No More String
by HikarixPlatina
Summary: Semi AU/ Dawn Berlitz is returned to an assassin company she was born into by Paul Shinji, a member of the elite team. She meets May Maple, Misty Waterflower and Leaf Green along with a few childhood friends from long ago, but what happens when they discover a dark secret that the company is hiding? Ikarishipping, Contest poke, oldrival. Rated T for some violence.
1. Prologue

**Sorry for the bad summary before ^^;**

 **EDIT:** _Yeah, I had to change it, when ever I saw this chapter it made me cringe._

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Dawn Berlitz, an 11 year old girl with strikingly blue hair cursed as she sat under an immense tree, trying to stop the thick red liquid from oozing out of the gash in her leg which she'd made after tripping over a large tree root.

She could feel more tears building up in her sapphire blue eyes, yet she wiped them away as quickly as she could, hating to feel so weak. She'd already cried enough within the last four hours than she'd ever wanted to in her entire life time.

She rocked silently back and fourth, trying to bring some comfort to her small stature. She was slowly regretting her decision, wishing that she'd never left her home, her mother and her best friends behind.

She'd flunked her first mission, she'd refused to carry out the task required; she wasn't ready. She'd never previously questioned any objective set by the higher ups before, why had she now?! _Because you couldn't kill him, he had a family._ She reminded herself. She hadn't wanted to kill that man and caused the family pain. That was the reason she'd run. The reason she'd questioned her first mission or the integrity of the facility, despite being trained to kill, she wasn't ready.

"What am I doing…" she muttered, her voice cracking. "I'm such and idiot! Mum has no one now!" She growled, digging her fingernails into her arms, in an attempt to punish herself. She sat there like that for a few more minutes, cursing and putting herself down for her foolish actions, realising that her father, being the highly regarded agent that he was, was most likely turning in his grave right now.

There was no point in going back; she'd most likely be killed, yet she'd probably be hunted anyway, the company which she was from could not have any rogues wandering about, in case they were to be caught by their enemies and tortured for information or handed themselves in.

Dawn's father had died on a mission, it was an honourable death she had been told, apparently he'd sacrificed his life for the good of the company, Team Rocket they were called. Dawn had always though it was a stupid name, something a child would make up if they were playing pretend games with their friends, not an institution full of assassins, scientists and very important business related people which was seen, from the outside world, as merely a very successful weapons manufacturer.

Her head snapped up as a twig broke from what sounded like a few meters away from her, she had to be quick yet quiet if she had any chance in escaping what was most likely going to be an agent in search for her. She knew that the cover of the night would hide her somewhat; however the person was likely wearing night vision goggles.

As quickly and as quietly as she could, Dawn hauled herself onto the first branch of the tree, and then the second, and so on until she was sure she was covered by a sufficient amount of leaves and in less danger due to the height. Sure enough, she spotted someone not far away appearing to be scouring the area. Unsurprisingly, he was wearing the usual black hoodie and track suit bottoms, most likely over the flexible armour which their scientists especially designed for the company, however, the scarf which is usually wrapped around the bottom of the face was tied around his head and his hood pulled down.

The man looked to be in his late teens, he had very long, purple hair which was tied roughly up in a pony tail. He looked oddly familiar to the girl, yet she ignored the thought, ducking behind the leaves, positioning herself ready to jump down and make a run for it if need be.

Eventually, the purple haired man disappeared and Dawn was able to let herself down. She continued in the direction she had been heading in before she'd cut her leg, her limp getting continually worse as she tried to make her way out of the dense forest she'd fled to.

She had no idea what she was going to do, but she knew that somehow she'd make it. She wondered if her friends and mother knew she was gone and if they were worried. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of these thoughts, deciding that she just needed to focusing on what was happening to her at present instead as the company was most likely still looking for her, and would be until she was found alive or confirmed dead.

Eventually, she sighed in relief as the amount of trees lessened and the sunlight began to stream though. As she arrived on the other side, she came to a large road which didn't seem very busy. She looked to her left and right, deciding to follow it as she knew it'd lead her to the closest town or city.

She'd almost passed out from fatigue as she reached her destination. It was a rather large city, buildings towered up ahead and the traffic had increased dramatically. She eventually made her way to a small alley way, hidden from the view of the early risers. Sliding down one of the narrow walls, her eyes began to droop and she soon drifted off, unsure of the future which awaited her.

She eventually found a way to join the schools, knowing that a better education would better her chances in this world. The only way she could properly survive however was by stealing. This feat was easy for her, due to her previous training at the facility. She still knew that Team Rocket was looking for her due to the subtle hints she found every now as again. She moved from place to place, never staying stationary for any more than a month. This however made keeping her grades up an exceptionally hard deed.

The years began to pass and she'd been able to manage in the world fairly well despite the circumstances she was under. She had, however, had her fair hare of scrapes with the company, one leaving her extremely injured and near death. Nevertheless, being the strong, optimistic and resilient person that she was, she managed to push on through the hard times, her determination to live and never return to that corrupt place kept her going.

Deep down, she knew that they'd eventually catch up with her, trapping her and either killing her, or dragging her back to that god forsaken place. A part of her wanted to go back, to see her mother's warm smile again or her best friends' beaming faces.

 **Gihi, thanks so much for reading and I hope you continue to follow the story ^^  
The is my first continued fanfic or whatever so I hope you enjoyed and the next chapters will be much longer than this, I promise!  
Reviews are encouraged and I'll accept any suggestions too.**

 **~X-Ray**


	2. Taken

**Dawn POV**

I pulled my flimsy coat up to my chin; a shiver ran down my spine as I looked behind me for the hundredth time. I knew someone, or something was following me, I needed to get to safety. Why the hell I'd decided to take the short cut through the forest behind the city I did not know. I'd been on the run ever since they found me a while back. Never had I been so careless, not until now that is. A jagged howl crackled through the once silent night causing the air around me to somehow grow thicker and heavier with tension, which I didn't think possible. My heart thumped in my chest and I sped up trying not to trip over the tangle of tree roots and sticks on the forest floor.

Lights shone in the distance, a twig snapped from a few feet away and I sprinted to the welcome of the orange glow which blurred on the horizon. I heard the footsteps of my follower, there appeared to be only one of them because I heard two feet swiftly padding across the leafy grass. They seemingly effortlessly stayed a few paces behind; I dared not look around afraid for what I would find. In any ordinary movie a man in a hockey mask and a chain saw would be out to get the helpless maiden, however this was no movie, this was my past coming back to haunt me.

Just as I swiftly dodged a tree that was in my path, something had given me a sharp shove that sent me flying to the ground. I immediately shook the feeling of dizziness away and tried to stand and face whatever foe was out to get me. A heavy weight was on my back and I could hear them breathing heavily. I bared my teeth and tried to release the firm grip of the creature. It was no use.

"Help," My call was strangled and weak. A hand firmly bound my hands and feet together. Panic seized me.

"NO!" I screamed. I can't go back!" I saw a flash of purple, and then everything went dark.

I woke up, staring at a plain white ceiling. I sat up in an infirmary bed, the room was empty and I gingerly touched the back of my head. I winced in pain as I stood, my ankle had obviously been sprained as there was a bandage wrapped tightly around it but I limped to the door anyway. Cautiously, I turned and sped through the corridor as quickly as my leg would let me.

"Where do you think your going?" A deep voice asked from behind me, seemingly amused. I ignored the person and continued knowing that it was useless trying to run, however persisted to anyway. I could hear the stranger's boots echoing around the corridor as he began to walk up to me. I began to scowl and turned sharply to lash out at him. The punch was weak but it obviously caught him by surprise.

"What do you think you doing troublesome girl?!" He growled, roughly grabbing my wrists and dragging me back to the infirmary.

"Let go!" I yelled straining on my arms to try and break free. "And my name is Dawn Berlitz, not troublesome!" I said irritably, gritting my teeth in annoyance.

"And my name is Paul Shinji; you want a medal for that or something?" He asked coldly, letting go of my wrists as we entered the small room. I glared daggers at the man and sized him up. He had messy plumb coloured hair that sat chin length on his head, just like the purple I saw before blacking out. He had a plain black t-shirt on and a purple hoodie was tied around his waist however a sharp scowl cut across his would-be-perfect appearance like a knife.

"Why the hell did you bring me back?!" I demanded placing my hands on my hips aggressively. He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest, seeming to subtly tell me that my intimidation methods weren't working.

"You're bound to this place and it's your duty, like everyone's here, to defend," he said simply, leaning on the wall at the back of the room. I puffed out my cheeks in annoyance, this guy was really irritating me.

"What if I don't want to?!"

"Then they'll kill you," he deadpanned before lifting his arm to check a watch that was strapped to his wrist. "Follow me troublesome," he muttered before grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the room.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, straining against his hold. I was certain that there would be bruises in the shape of the man's hand there in the morning.

* * *

I nervously looked around the large office. The only light came from a dim ceiling lamp above the desk at the end of the room. I kicked my legs played with a strand of my sapphire blue hair nervously. An angry looking man swiftly entered the room. He was wearing a smart orange suit and his dark brown hair was slicked back on his head. He glared dangerously at me as he sat himself in the plush leather chair in front of me. Two men dressed in black with dark sunglasses stood either side of the large oak door. They both held a gun, each of them expressionless and alert.

"I honestly don't see why I shan't dispose of you right now." Giovanni hissed, clasping his hands together and setting his elbows on the glossy wooden desk that sat between us. I gulped, lowering my gaze knowing that if I made the wrong move I'd be dead before I could say the words 'Help me'.

"Now tell me, why did you run? Team rocket is making this god forsaken world a much better place. I cannot risk our 'operation pokemon' to be reviled to our enemies, what if you had been caught?!" He snarled, his glare intensifying, if that was even possible.

"I... I'm sorry Sir, I don't know what came over me…" I stuttered, shuffling my feet around nervously, my eyes resting on the pink boots that hugged my feet comfortingly.

 ** _~ Flash Back ~_**

 _A girl dressed all in black swiftly leaped through the open window at the far side of the huge white building. She lightly landed on the soft red carped, her black boots making no sound as she hurried across the hallway; her midnight blue hair was roughly tied up in a pony tail at the back of her head. Loose strands fell into her face giving the girl a rebellious look. She had a large belt wrapped around her waist and attached to it were a number of different gadgets and a small gun. There was a large door at the end of the long hall and the girl made her way towards it, grabbing the gun from her belt. The 11 year old Dawn Berlitz heard crying from the other room and stopped in her tracks. The noise alarmed her and she immediately dove for a nearby plant pot, slipped behind it hoping not to be found. Two people came out of her target room; a man and a woman. They both entered the room where the cry could be heard. After a few minutes, they came back out of the room; the woman carrying a small child. The family stood in the darkness for a while, the girl behind the plant pot could faintly make out the three of them huddled together; the man had his arms wrapped around both the woman and the child. How could I break this family up?! How many families have we broken in the past, why should I be the one to damage this one?! She screamed inside her head but immediately mentally scolded herself for thinking this but couldn't help a tear slip down her pale face as the two parents put made their way to the room at the far end with the small child. Dawn stood and watched the door intensely for a moment. She remembered what it was like when her father had passed away. How her mother had cried herself to sleep every night for months on end. They had been told that her father had died on a mission. Dawn allowed hair that had escaped her pony tail fall across her eyes. She clenched her fists as another tear fell onto the crimson carpet below. Sniffing softly, she sprinted back to the window across from the door and leaped out, landing gracefully on her feet even though it was a drop from a three story building. She ripped her black hair band out of her hair and forcefully threw it to the ground along with the ear piece she had used to communicate with the people judging her first mission. Shivering in the cold, the girl wrapped her arms around her body, letting her long cobalt hair blow in her face as a cold breeze whipped through the air. She began sobbing; mourning for her father and all those families that team rocket had broken. That's when she ran, far far away._

"I guess I was scared to kill," I shrugged coolly, trying to show him that I was not in the least bit scared, however I knew he could see the terror that shined like a beacon behind the cool demeanour I was attempting to portray. He stared me down, a look of disgust evident on his face.

"We cannot afford people like you training at this facility, and we cannot allow you to as you might head straight for other companies or worse, the authorities and tell them where we are." I held my breath, waiting him to tell the guards to get rid of me. To throw me away like a faulty machine that was broken down and no longer needed. There was a short but firm knock at the door. Giovanni narrowed his eyes but motioned for the people standing by the door to open it. A man stepped in, he bowed slowly, raising his head after a few seconds but refusing to look at me.

"Sir, may I request that we keep this _girl_ alive?" He asked, keeping his gaze lowered in respect. "We're running low on agents as it is and we cannot risk losing someone who has the blood of a great assassin running through her veins." He lifted his head slightly, the lavender hair falling out of his cold onyx eyes. Giovanni looked the agent up and down; he scowled at the man and stood up from the chair and took in a sharp breath.

"Just like her father eh?" he muttered, the words almost un-audible "This girl has been missing for over four years, she is obviously out of practice and so I see no point in keeping her."He said eventually. I could have sworn I saw Paul's eyes flash angrily at this, although he kept his cool.

"I can train her again; keep her up to the other novice's standards, with me she'll be one of the best in no time." He boasted sheepishly. Giovanni raised an eye brow.

"You are one of our best agents Shinji, you will still have to be on duty and attend your classes so she will have to be trained within yours and her free time," he said slowly, his voice hard and expression menacing. Paul nodded.

"I understand sir, I shall train her during my own time, and she can also join the trainees' classes during school time. Giovanni sighed, he nodded and ushered Paul out of the room. The man bowed his head once more and strolled out, shoving his hands in his hoodie that had been pulled over his body. Giovanni waited until he had shut the door when he leaned down towards me and hissed,

"I'm watching you girl, no funny business okay?" He made his hand look like a gun and pressed the outstretched fingers to my fore head; he narrowed his eyes, glaring down and me and re-coiled his hand like a gun would after being shot. I gulped and quickly scampered out of the office, not looking back.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" I growled, resisting the urge to slap Paul's face. He seemed unfazed by my outburst and stayed leant against the wall with his arms crossed. He glared at me; his next words came as a scoff.

"Troublesome, I just saved your pitiful life so the least you could do is show me some gratitude!" I glared back at him, I knew my glare didn't even come close to the power of his but I stood my ground.

"It's D-A-W-N! And I'm never going to show any gratitude to an unemotional jerk like you, especially if you can't even be bothered to call me by my name!" I spat coldly. "Just take me to the dorms; I don't know what room I'm supposed to be in now." I commanded stubbornly. Paul rolled his eyes but set off in the direction of my year's dorms. I was still a trainee and I was supposed to attend the school program that the team had running in the facility. It was set up for safety precautions so that none of the kids spilled about any of this. Most of the time the parents involved with the company would bring their children to train here as it would be difficult keeping their line of work from the rest of the family. My father used to be a field agent, just like me, and my mother worked as a receptionist. It was her job to make sure no-body trespassed but she also catered to the demands of the public as they saw us as a business company with our own brand of weapon and other military items. I guess she's sort of like the security for the facility, keeping the noisy strangers at bay and making sure we seemed normal.

We arrived at a corridor full of cream coloured doors. Paul stopped at number 67 and knocked on the door. My mother burst out of the room throwing her arms around me. I smiled happily and wrapped my arms around her neck tightly; not wanting to ever let her go again. Paul seemed to skulk off after that moment because I didn't see him again. Mum held me out at arms length and tears of happiness streamed down both of our faces.

"We look a right pair," She stated, dragging me into the room.

"I'm sorry Mum… I just, I guess I completely messed up on my first assault…" I laughed nervously, sitting on the un-made bed on one side of the room that appeared to be mine as the side was extremely undecorated. My mother frowned.

"What exactly did happen anyway?" She asked, concern hinted in her tone of voice.

"I couldn't… kill him," I muttered turning my head away from her gaze. "He had a family, I just couldn't" I smiled weakly. My Mother lifted my head up.

"Its okay; when you didn't report back, someone else finished him off. But why did you run away?!" She asked, her frown deepening. I chose to carefully ignore this question by asking one myself.

"Why do we have to kill these people Mum?" The woman before me sighed, the creases on her face deepening. She seemed much older that I remember and it saddened me. She hugged me once more and stood up, ready to leave me to unpack the bag of clothes that had been placed on my bed.

"Just remember that we are against these people, they would do the same to us." With that, she left. I guess in a way she was right, I must have over reacted before. I sighed and turned the bag upside down, its contents spilling all over my sheet-less bed. Most of the clothing was black. I noticed a mini dress in the mix. It was black at the top and had a rather low V-Neck. The skirt area of the dress was a soft pink colour, smiling to myself; I grabbed the dress along a white singlet to go underneath and black knee length socks. I headed to the small bathroom that was on the other side of the room.

* * *

Looking at the huge mirror showed a confident young woman. I smiled at myself meekly; maybe it was good that I had come back. I had found a hairbrush in the bag and was brushing my cobalt hair lovingly. I roughly pulled it into a ponytail and placed my white beanie back onto my head. It had a small symbol on it which was a circle with a line surrounding the to half; the emblem of our company. I then pulled up the black socks and padded out of the bathroom chucking my pink boots onto my bed. I began to place the remaining clothing items in the draws around my sleeping area. I instantly turned; a scowl plastered to my face as the door of the room was flung open, expecting Paul to be standing there. Instead, a girl around my age walked in, she grinned at me and my expression softened. She had light brown hair that was styled oddly in two pigtails. She had a red bandanna on that also had a pokeball symbol embedded on it. She was wearing a red, short sleaved jacket with white and blue biker gloves. She had a tight white skirt over black cycling shorts and kicked off red sneakers and left them by the door.

"I'm May, Nice to meet you!" she smiled brightly offering me her hand. I shook it politely and smiled back.

"The name's Dawn, I've recently come back to the company, my skills probably aren't too great at the moment." I smiled rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. May widened her eyes at me.

"You're the girl that ran away?!" She gasped excitedly. "Most people thought it was just a rumour, why did you even do it?" She asked curiously, pulling me towards a black leather couch that faced a wide flat screen TV. The great thing about living in an assassin company's dorms was that they had a lot of money to buy all of the good stuff.

"Well, I guess I didn't want to do something." I said honestly, not wanting to reveal the whole truth just yet. "I've got to take extra classes with this jerk called 'Paul'." I told her while rolling my eyes. She just stared more, a happy grin spreading across her face.

"He's a legend; you're gonna be a pro in no time!" She chirped clapping her hands. I smiled with her, I could tell we were going to be really good friends. We both had the same happy and optimistic attitude. "I can't wait to introduce you to the others tomorrow, you're so much better than my previous room mate, she was such a sulk and was really annoying too," May frowned at the memory.

"No need to worry!" I assured her. "We're going to get on great, I can tell," May smiled at this and we both giggled.

"That we are Dawn, that we are," she beamed, hugging me tightly.

* * *

May exited the bathroom wearing a red singlet with red and white chequered tracky-bottoms. My pyjamas were the same as hers but light pink in colour. The company had given me the clothes to wear and earlier a maid had come in to make my bed. She provided me with a pink duvet and pillowcase. May and I had gone down to the supply shops down below and bought posters and ornaments to decorate my side of the room. Most consisted of happy scenes of creatures playing or having fun; others had famous artists printed on, most holding microphones with a few lyrics to one of their songs below. I had gotten to know May lot within the time, she was a cheerful and sweet girl however she could also be rather shy. That was the difference between us, I was confident and not afraid to put myself out there however she preferred to be around people she knew and could be quite quiet at times.

"Goodnight Dawn," she whispered turning off the bedside lamp that faintly lit the room as we snuggled up into bed. Tomorrow was Monday which meant we had school and she told me that I could go and meet her other friends.

"Goodnight May," I smiled, closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

 **Hey guys, the next chapter should be up soon though I'm not completely sure when because of school and shit but I'll try to get it up asap ^^ Hope you enjoyed it and as I promised before, this chapter was much longer. But hey, enter Paul and May I guess heh. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!**

 **~X-Ray**


	3. The Girls

**Normal POV**

May dragged Dawn down to the mess hall for breakfast that morning. The large room was filled with other assassins of all ages. The juniors sat quietly in one corner whereas the seniors were very loud and rowdy in another. A red head with denim shorts, red suspenders and a yellow midriff waved to May and seemed to look questioningly at Dawn who was being dragged towards the table where the red head and another girl sat. She was wearing a white hat and blue shirt with a crinkled dark pink skirt while aqua leg warmers that sat comfortably on her calves. She seemed to be watching Dawn with great curiosity when the Bluenette and the Brunette sat opposite them.

"I'm Dawn Berlitz," the girl with the white beanie smiled. She began to play with her sapphire hair nervously.

"I'm Misty, Misty Waterflower," the girl with the red hair waved, taking Dawn's hand and shaking it enthusiastically.

"And I'm Leaf Green," the girl with the leg warmers smiled, there was a cheeky glint to her eyes as she took her other hand and shook it vigorously. May grinned and she hauled Dawn to her feet leading her over to the long line at the end of the giant room. Dawn looked on in awe.

"I swear this line was never as long as this!" She sighed grumpily. May grimaced in agreement, her stomach began to growl and she blushed furiously as Dawn began to giggle. The bluenette then narrowed her eyes and beaconed for May to follow as she marched further up the line, getting closer to the food. A young man stared straight ahead, his arms crossed and a constant glare plastered to his face. Dawn tapped him on his shoulder earning a few surprised stares from the students around them. May shrank back nervously as Paul spun around glaring daggers at her.

"What is it you annoying girl?!" He growled, standing above her in an intimidating way. Dawn didn't shrink back like any sain person would have, she glared at him with just as much power instead.

"I just wanted to get further up in line with my friend, we're starving and considering I know you, I thought we could shove in." She said stubbornly. Paul narrowed his eyes dangerously and stepped towards her in attempt to intimidate her even more.

"Well maybe if you were a little more considerate you would think of all the people that actually wait in line. Maybe it was different for you back when you were roaming the world but here, we have rules and curtesy. I'm sure you should know this considering you were a student here before you fled." Dawn gulped, stepping back ever so slightly feeling guilty that she hadn't thought of those people. She flicked her hair and stormed towards the back of the line dragging her speechless friend with her, refusing to admit defeat.

 **Dawns POV:**

I ignored the stares from the other students around me; I refused to let myself blush in embracement as we waited for the toast and waffles at the othersider of the line.

"Oh Dawn!" May grinned. "Trust you to make an enemy with someone like Paul." I scoffed.

"He's just an unemotional grape headed jerk, least I tried to get us further up in line." The brunette giggled, causing me to lose my cool demeanour and giggle with her. We eventually got to the front of the line where I picked out two slices of toast and covered them in jam. I stared wide eyed at May's plate as she shovelled three pancakes, a slice of toast and a waffle, covering them all in syrup.

"What?" She asked innocently. "A girl's gotta eat!" I sighed and grinned at her. The room seemed to become a bit quieter as three seniors stepped in. One had green hair; another raven black and the third brown. A great proportion of girls began whispering and giggling with one another while the guys seemed to shrink back ever so slightly. The three strutted over to the table where Paul sat; to my surprise. He seemed to greet them with a small smirk, May tensed up as their gazes swept the room and the green headed boy lingered his on her for a few seconds before returning to his friends. I raised an eyebrow questioningly as we shoved through the now busying crowd of students as the hall returned to normal. We got to the table and Misty placed her hands on it in a matter-or-fact kind of way.

"Those four are basically part of the elite field team; Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak, Drew Hayden and Paul Shinji. They're practically celebrities at the school; everyone worships them although I don't see why because most of them are jerks." She snorted.

"I see…" I muttered glancing over in their direction. "While I was… away, I had my fair share of high schools. This is no different I see, who are the 'popular' chicks?" I asked curiously looking around the room.

 **"** Ursula, Brianna, Serena and Giselle," Leaf answered pointing to a group of girls sitting around a table near Paul and co together giggling.

"They are terrible assassins though." Misty stated in a somewhat board tone. I snorted at this and quickly covered my mouth as the others began to laugh. I continued to glance in the direction of the other girls. They were sitting on a table not far off from the boys. Rolling my eyes, I nibbled on the rest of my toast as Ursula twirled her pink curls and pranced over to their table in an attempted to make conversation with Paul, but he just waved her off; he was the most unsociable guy on the planet. I watched May and realised she was watching one of the girls at the other table too; I think it was Brianna. The girl had cute short redish pink hair with a yellow and orange outfit. She seemed to be giggling at something that Drew had said as he was smirking and flicking his green bangs away from his eyes.

"So, what happened between you and Brianna?" I asked, pointing a fork in May's direction as there was obviously something up. She blushed and attempted to obscure her face from my view.

"Um, well, we used to be friends… then came to a disagreement…" She broke off, staring into space while the others sighed.

"She refuses to even tell us!" Misty said with an exasperated tone. I narrowed my eyes and looked back towards Brianna and then May. I began to drum my fingers on the table in thought and I noticed Misty giving me a curious look.

Misty and I had been passing notes back and fourth for what seemed like hours. Our math teacher; Professor Jacuzzi was going on about some complicated equation that no-one was really paying attention too. Scrawled all over the crumpled piece of paper was a discussion about May and Brianna. I was attempting to piece together what had happened between them to make May hate her so much. Apparently sometime before I ran, they had been pretty good friends. Misty explained that when May wasn't with her and Leaf she would be talking to Brianna; however, one day the girl started hanging out with Ursula, Serena and Cassidy, they still talked together but not as much and then one day May ended up literally knocking her out... Pretty much out of the blue as far as we're concerned.

 _'What about Drew?_ '

I wrote passing her back the note. Misty looked at me for a second as if something had clicked together inside her head and began to furiously scribble down her next sentences. At this point the professor began to pace towards us, I flinched and tried to motion for Misty to stop without drawing attention to myself. I looked over at the white board at the front of the classroom and quickly wrote down the equation we were supposed to be solving. I could see Jacuzzi glance suspiciously at me from the corner of my eye and then at Misty who had noticed him just in time. As he turned to walk towards the front of the class again, misty passed me the note.

 _'I'm not exactly sure; but before the guys became one of the elite teams, believe it or not, we were all pretty good friends. Drew used to tease May a lot but they really liked each other. Sometimes Brianna would hang around with them but eventually it became apparent that she had a major crush on Drew. She stopped hanging with May right after we went into grade five which was when the guys went into grade six. (Well, except Paul who went into seven.) Serena and that started hanging out with; or trying to hang out with them because of their sudden rise in 'fame'. (Even though they're one of the best teams and the girls were pretty much the most pathetic.) Maybe May found out that the only reason Brianna hung around with her was because she wanted to get to 'Mr. Drew'_

I raised an eyebrow at the 'Mr drew' part at the end of the sentence. It was apparent to me that May was jealous of Brianna and I was going to get to the bottom of it all. I began to write my next words on the note when I felt a presents next to my desk. I froze and slowly looked up to see Professor Jacuzzi glaring down at me.

"Care to share with the class the conversation you and Miss Waterflower appear to be having? He said loudly so as to get the attention of my fellow class mates.

"No sir…" I mumbled, sinking down into my seat. I could hear a few snickers from around the room and I glanced behind me at Misty who was flushing bright red. Another figure caught my attention; he was casually standing at the back of the room, arms crossed and glaring in my direction. Plumb head's presents seemed to make it all that more humiliating and I could feel my cheeks growing warmer. I caught his eye and he glared at me before returning his gaze to the board.

"Detention after school for the both of you, meet back in this classroom." The professor's voice snapped me out of my humiliated daze and I glared at the front of the room. _Hang on, what's Paul doing in my math class?_ I asked myself suddenly. I was tempted to pass Misty another note but decided against it as I would get her into more trouble if we were caught.

* * *

Misty and I began to walk through the hall ways, she was showing me to my next class because back when I was younger, I only ever ventured through the primary school children's areas.

"Do you have any idea why Paul was in our math class?" I asked suddenly, Misty shrugged.

"I think it has something to do with him being your mentor, he must have had a free period and was coming to check up on you." I shrugged and Misty smirked at me which caused me to send a glare back.

My next class was luckily with Leaf. For that I was thankful because I wasn't exactly top of chemistry either. I seriously do think they're trying to bore me to death here, what, with a triple math lesson and then a double chemistry?! I already need a break and it's only my first day.

I sat down with Leaf at the back of the class room. Our teacher for this subject was Professor Oak. He seemed to be quite a bubbly person with a weird love for poems, although I admired him for it. He was very cheerful and a good laugh and when it was time for the practical work, we got to work in pairs. Throughout the lesson, I found out that Leaf was an extremely cleaver girl. She was the top of the class for apparently pretty much anything and the Prof seemed especially fond of her.

I watched, feeling slightly bored as Leaf added more water to a bowl. We were doing very basic stuff because Leaf was way ahead of the other students and I was pretty far behind. The professor agreed to let her help me with the basics to help me catch up a bit. Her green eyes were hard with concentration as she added some more dishwashing liquid to the mixture of water and corn syrup.

"Leaf," I dragged on. "This is baby stuff!" I whined realising that the ingredients she was using would be what a kid would use if they were making some random potion in their kitchen.

"Hush, you're gonna love the outcome." She muttered only half paying attention to my complaint. I huffed and continued to watch her mix the ingredients together, slumping further down in my chair. Leaf eventually grabbed an object which looked very peculiar. It was kind of like a hoop on a stick but the hoop was very bumpy. She dipped the bizarre object into her concoction and took it out again. She blew on the liquid which was stretched around the hoop and a bubble formed on the opposite side to where she was blowing. I raised an eyebrow at Leaf.

"I think bubbles are a bit _too_ basic for my liking," I said matter-of-factly. The teen in front of me raised a hand as if motioning for me to wait as the now huge bubble released it's self from what I realised now was an over-sized bubble blower. It floated upwards before making its way down. Leaf grabbed my hand and made me put it out under the bubble. As it landed I was expecting it but pop but what it actually did surprised me greatly. The bubble lingered on my hand, it didn't pop at all and so I gently threw it higher in the air. Leaf giggled as a goofy grin spread its self across my face. The child inside of me had come out to say hello and I began trying to catch it. Leaf joined me and we'd soon made a game of catch the bubble.

"This is awesome!" I exclaimed after a few minutes. Leaf gave me a pointed look but grinned all the same.

"See, you can't judge a book by its cover… or a bubble by its contents for this matter," She said, giggling. "I knew you'd like it!" At that moment the professor came over to us, and amused smile planted on his features.

"Why don't you show Miss Berlitz how to make it glow in the dark Leaf," he suggested almost excitedly. Leaf squealed at the suggestion and hurried out of the class room to get something. The professor chuckled and added, "You're going to love this even more!" Before walking off to see how other people were doing with the original experiment.

Leaf re-entered the classroom waving a yellow highlighter above her head. She hurried back over to the table and handed it to me.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked curiously.

"Take the ink out and break it in half, causing it to soak into the mixture," she instructed. I did as I was told and the continents of the bowl turned a bright yellow colour. Leaf took out the bubble blower and brought it through the mixture for the second time. The professor brought us to an empty classroom and closed all of the blinds and turned the lights off causing the room to become as dark as possible. He left us alone and Leaf blew the bubble up. I stared in awe as a luminous yellow bubble slightly lit the dark class room. I giggled with delight as Leaf and I began to pass it back and fourth.

Eventually, one of the students from our class came to get us and bring us back. By this time, it was time to go and I unwillingly popped the bubble and left the room to collect my bag. That class seemed to have been my 'bonding time' with Leaf as I was now great friends with her as well as May and Misty.

We made our way down the corridor towards the mess hall, I did enjoy the chemistry class but my stomach was grumbling and I needed food.

After careful examination of our timetables, I found out that May and I had a free period while Misty and Leaf were in English. May smirked at this while to other two groaned. Again, I glanced in the direction of the Boy's table and saw the other girls right next to them. Brianna seemed to be eating up everything Drew was saying, Ursula was battering her eyelashes at Paul, Giselle was flirting with Gary and Serena was giggling at something Ash had said. The other three groaned with me as Serena's giggling could be heard from half way across the hall. Misty scowled and glared in the direction of the table.

"I wish they would quieten down over there!" She grumbled crossing her arms and squeezing her eyes shut in frustration just as the bell went. Misty immediately stood up and stormed out of the hall with a grumbling leaf in tow. May sighed and stood up, collecting all of the trays from the table with me.

"My my June, left to do the dirty work are we?" A voice teased from behind us. We both whirled around and May glared at the green headed boy.

"Well at least I'm doing something grass head, I don't use all my fangirls to treat me like royalty!" She spat fiercely, Drew smirked and flicked his bangs causing May to puff out her cheeks in annoyance.

"At least I have fans, May." He retorted stubbornly, crossing his arms. As if on cue, Brianna came skipping to Drew's side and he hung his arm loosely around her neck giving May an 'I told you so' look. May's face began to turn red. With either rage or jealousy I'm not quite sure but her next word came as a harsh whisper, her gaze turning cold as she looked towards Brianna.

"Maybe it's good that I don't have fans, especially if they're people like _her_." After she said this, Drew's smirk faded, I couldn't tell what he was feeling as his eyes betrayed nothing; those of an assassin. He stepped away from Brianna and gave her a look which made her scamper away.

"Leave me alone grass head." May snarled, walking away from the boy while I jogged to catch up.

As we stopped under a giant oak tree in the court yard, I gave her a questioning look. May glared into the distance and slumped down against the trunk of the tree. I sighed and sat next to her, May concerned me; I knew something had happened between them before. "May… what did Brianna do to you?" I questioned her worriedly. She looked at me from the corner of her eyes, they were slightly glazed over and she gave me a small smile.

"I used to think that Brianna was the nicest, cutest girl, she seemed to look up to me and she would always follow me around like a shadow, I kinda liked it because she felt like a younger sister." Her expression darkened and she scowled ahead of her. "Drew and I were pretty close too and us three used to play together as kids, then when the four boys all training to became one of the elites, they stopped hanging around with us and seemed to grow a fan base. Brianna turned, following Serena and the rest of em'. She completely ignored me, Drew only saw me to tease me and they would always be together." I raised an eyebrow suspiciously, standing up and pulling her with me.

"Why are you telling me this? Apparently you didn't tell the others." I sated with a surprised tone. She shot me a meek smile.

"Well, I really like you Dawn, and besides, I've had that truth cooped up inside of me all these years, I needed to let it all out, ya know?"

I gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand.

"Don't let them get to you, it will all work out in the end," I said, trying to convince myself as well as my friend.

 **I was originally gonna make leaf make some kind of poison but I came across that and was all like :O BUBBLEZZZZ! and besides, they're having way more fun than I've ever had in a chemistry class (I seriously wanna try it out for myself too XD I wonder if it works) But hey, it also defines Leaf's personality a bit more so that's always good. Tell me what you thought on this chapter, not much happened but it sorter introduces the girls a bit I guess. And yeah, I know it's now got the 'classic' teenage American high school drama movie shit feel to it but I swear the story isn't based solely on that. Think of it as a small side story if you will, one where I can indulge you guys with the feels :3 I have a much better plot in mind mwahahaha!**

 **~X-Ray**

 **Oh and because I'm not specifically stating it in the story, here are their ages if anyone was confused about that.**

Paul: 18  
Gary: 17  
Drew: 17  
Ash: 16  
Misty: 16  
Leaf: 16  
May: 15  
Dawn: 15


	4. Mission

Drew POV

"Gary, do you see us? Over," Paul's rough voice could be heard over the receiver as I crouched under the windowsill of a huge mansion. Gary Oak; a tall brunette, would be sitting in our black van surrounded by computers and other buttons that is beyond my technology knowledge. Ash Ketchum; a raven haired teen would be next to Gary watching the camera screens also from inside the van.

"You are now on the radar," Gary's voice crackled and I turned to look at a dark hooded figure crouched under another windowsill at the far end of the house. He nodded and flicked his hand motioning for me to enter the house. I pulled my black hood further down my face to obscure my eyes, a black bandanna made sure that my facial features were un-identifiable but I was still weary of my appearance because I knew that my shock of green hair was very noticeable. Slowly, I gave an attempt to lift the window, unfortunately, it didn't budge. I unhooked a thin metal object from my belt and began to pick at the lock that held the window tight. A small click could be heard and I silently lifted the window, clambering into the house and dropping onto a plush white carpet. I carefully made my way to the window that Paul had climbed in through and we made our way up the hallway to huge, winding stairs. A small squeak sounded as I stepped onto one of the stairs and Paul sent me a harsh glare that made me cower down every so slightly, I padded up the rest in wake of the lavender haired man in front of me. He swiftly made it to a large wooden door to the left of the hall way, I crept over to him and the opened to reveal an elderly man fast asleep. Paul immediately gagged him while I tied his hands together, his eyes widened in both shock and fear and I felt a slight pang of guilt in my chest. I had no idea what Paul was thinking as his onyx eyes portrayed no emotion what so ever. His eyes were that of a truly professional assassin, he never showed what he was thinking and never seemed to feel love or weakness or anything for that matter except for irritants every now-and-again. He was lucky, I felt bad about doing that to May, I shouldn't have used Brianna and I know how much May loathes her… I'm sorry, I truly am.

"Drew!" Paul growled sharply, I shook my head giving Paul a sheepish look realising that I must have spaced out; I glanced towards the old man and he gave me a knowing look, I felt my cheeks burn but knew no-one would see the blush over the mask. Paul rolled his eyes and dragged the man towards the windows on the opposite side of the room. The elder seemed very calm considering the situation he was in and it un-nerved me ever so slightly.

Ash and Gary congratulated us and the prisoner was put into a separate compartment at the back of the van. We drove back to the team rocket head quarters where we delivered the man to Giovanni. I had no-idea who her was or what they wanted with him but orders were orders and I knew that our enemies would do this to one of our allies. The four of us trekked down the winding passages that were our school. Few classes were still on-going and most of the rooms were mainly empty with a select few students and a teacher for an after school detention. The sun was dwindling to a faint light that barely shone through the windows facing the court yard. Paul suddenly stopped in front of one of the classrooms where his scowl became an even fiercer glare, if that was even physically possible. He knocked on the door of the room and Gary, Ash and I came over to the man's side. Professor Jacuzzi opened the door and two girls were lazily resting their heads on the desks at the back of the room. I noticed them as Misty and the new girl that sat at Maple's table this morning.

"May I have permission to take Miss Berlitz out of detention for special training?" Paul's gruff voice split the silence that enveloped the room and the bluenette's expression seemed to darken as she glared at him. At that moment, Ash spoke up.

"May I also take Miss Waterflower out for extra training?" he questioned while in his density, he was unaware that his lie seemed extremely unconvincing as Misty was definitely a top assassin. Gary and I exchanged looks and I mentally face palmed while he rolled his eyes. The professor furrowed his eye brows and looked back at the two girls who watched him with innocent gazes. He sighed and turned to Ash suspiciously.

"I didn't know Waterflower needed special training," he stated, awaiting an explanation.

"Her fighting abilities are slipping and she needs a boost," Ash explained hopefully. The professor nodded and turned to the two girls at the back of the room. He gave them a sharp look but motioned for them to scram. I was amazed that Ash's excuse worked, I guess it pays to be counted as one of the facilities elite teams. They both hurriedly stood, their chairs scraping on the ground as they fiercely pushed them in and practically sprinted out of the door. Misty slapped Ash across the face angrily, the boy's gaze becoming dazed.

"Her fighting abilities are slipping?!" She screeched, putting her hands on her hips aggressively and cornering him against the wall like a deer about to be pounced upon by a pack of hungry wolves. His eyes became frightened as he gulped, backing up as far as he could go.

"S... sorry Mist, I couldn't think of anything else to say and at least you're out of detention!" He said hopefully. Misty puffed her cheeks out; she frowned but laid off him a bit.

"Well I'm perfectly fine on my own," she finally growled, a small blush grazing her cheeks. I noticed her lock eyes with her friend who smirked ever so slightly which caused the red-head to blush a deeper shade of red. "Besides," She sniffed, recovering pretty quickly, "I thought you'd be with HER, as always." Ash gave her a puzzled look.

"Who?"

"Serena god damn it," Misty retorted hotly.

"Oh…" Ash sighed. "No, not tonight, I've had enough of her for today." He then smiled, "I'll take you back to your room if you would like?" he offered, I looked towards Gary who shared the same surprised expression as me.

Misty gave the boy a sceptical look but nodded and the two walked off down the hallway. Paul sighed and glared at the girl standing to his right, he turned to us and said,

"We'd better head off, it's getting late and I don't want to be out any later than I have to." Garry and I nodded as the two walked the opposite way to Ash and Misty.

"That was bizarre," Garry said suddenly. "I honestly thought Ash was too dense to ever walk a girl back to her room!" He added. I snorted and playfully punched my friend on the shoulder.

"That my friend is very true," I said while grinning, yet the humour in my face soon turned into seriousness as I asked, "What do you think they're gonna do to that man?"

"Who knows?" Garry replied, shrugging his shoulders. "They'll probably question him or whatever."

* * *

"Tell me what you know!" A voice harshly whispered.

"I swear, I don't know anything," another responded shakily. A gun clicked, indicating that it was ready to be shot as it pressed against the old man's forehead.

"Your team isn't the only one that is willing to die for what they believe." He spat, using a sudden spurt of confidence and attempting to lash out at the man in front of him. His arms and legs were bound to a chair proving impossible for him to do so. A blindfold was roughly tied to his face so that he could not see the leader of his team's greatest rival.

Giovanni hissed in annoyance and struck the captive in his stomach causing him to wince.

"Tell me," he repeated, indicating for the man holding the gun to the head of the hostage to dig it in even further.

"I'll never tell," the man growled. Giovanni flicked his head and a loud bang rang throughout the sound-proof room as the captive fell limp in the chair he was bound to. Blood trickled down his face and splattered on the once clean floor. The blindfold slipped off of the mans face and fluttered to the floor revealing eyes that seemed to be vacant and staring at nothing in particular while a gaping hole spewed thick, red liquid from in between them. Giovanni gave a look of disgust and stormed out of the room. The killer haltered his gun and un-tied the dead man from the chair. He shouldered him and carried him out of the room as a maid scurried in, ready to clean the mess.

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry it waaayy shorter than the others ^^; I promise the next one will be at least little longer!  
And I wonder what Giovanni was trying to get their guest to spill… dun dun duuuuuun.**

 **Anyways, hope to see you guys in the next chapter ^_^**

 **~X-Ray**


	5. Turning the corner

**Dawn POV**

I groaned for the millionth time two hours. My knuckles were already blistering and my thighs were aching from the multiple extra training sessions I'd had with grape head that week. It was currently Friday and my stress levels were already rising from the amount of homework I'd received from my multiple classes. Not only was my physical stature not up to scratch, I'd forgotten how they teach advance studies in just about every academic class you could think of, which meant I wasn't half as cleaver as the rest of the kids in my year. I had noticed however, that there were only around 8-10 students per class which I found really odd, it was as if the population of the facility has just halved over the years.

Having these training sessions during my free time was really taking its toll on me. I'd already had two all-nighters that week just to finish the stack of Math homework I had not had the time to complete. My brain was fuzzy and I got irritated really quickly. I had multiple bruises and cuts from where my class mates had beaten the crap out of me in my battle and martial-arts classes.

I gave a yelp of pain as I punched the bag especially hard having not been paying attention. My fist throbbed and I clutched it defensively as Paul snickered from behind me.

"That was pathetic," he taunted. I could tell he was enjoying it and it just pissed me off.

"You know what? Screw you!" I growled, channelling all of my pent up frustration onto him. "You'd be in exactly the same boat as me if you were behind with your studies, sleep-deprived and getting beaten to a pulp every freaking day of the week!" I continued, abandoning the bag to round on him.

"But I didn't run away," he said simply, a hint of amusement laced into his irritating voice. I half screamed half growled and attempted to round-house kick him but he blocked it with an easy sweep of his hand. This just made me even angrier but I took a deep breath. I wasn't going to let this jerk diminish my happy-go-lucky nature. I gave him a sickly sweet smile and glanced over at the clock behind his head. Thank god it was time to go.

"I'm leaving." I stated simply, picking up my bag from across the gym and heading out of the door. I began to sprint down the corridor, not wanting him to catch up with me and make me stay for another thirty minutes for leaving without being dismissed.

I rested my hands on my knees and began to pant heavily in an attempt to catch my breath. I fished a key out of my bag and proceeded to open the front door of my dorm. Leaf and May were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, papers and books spread out around them as they munched on cookies.

May leaped up as soon as she heard the door and ran over to hug me. I chucked and hugged her quickly back before grabbing my history book and sitting cross-legged on the floor amongst the organised chaos.

"So how much have you guys got done?" I asked while grabbing a pencil that had been randomly placed by the papers.

"Umm…" Leaf hummed cheekily. "We've really just been talking and eating." She said, waving a hand at the plate of cookies. I chuckled and grabbed a text book ready to begin the hours of studying I would have to do for the night just as May clapped her hands excitedly.

"I know!" She exclaimed. "Let's get Misty and you two can sleep over tonight!" Leaf squealed and I internally groaned, knowing that I'd probably need to stay up all of Saturday night just to finish my homework.

* * *

A few hours later, I was snuggled up cosily on my bed. We'd made make-shift ones for both Mist and Green (I found people tended to call her by her last name). They were wrapped up in a cover each while lying on a few pillows. Surprisingly we were in bed quite early as apparently they were all almost as tired as me.

"Good night," May's soft voice called out to all of us to which we followed suit. I could feel my eyes drooping and I decided to let myself worry about school work later.

I was woken up to shuffling in the room. I groggily opened my eyes and could faintly see black figures moving about the room. My senses were immediately on alert and I gently tipped my head to look at the other's beds but they were all empty.

"Ow…" May's voice yelped as I heard a loud thump come from the intruders. The action was immediately followed by a symphony of shushing from two other people. I sat up in bed realising that is was just the girls.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked into the darkness. The silhouettes fell still and Misty spoke up.

"Well Dawn, we were kinda going out…" She muttered guiltily. I cocked my head and stood up to flick the light on. Leaf hissed dramatically as she brought her hands to her eyes. The others and I giggled and I saw what they were all wearing. Each one of them was wearing a black jumpsuit with a black hoodie and scarf to pull over their mouths.

"You're going on a mission?" I questioned curiously.

"I didn't wanna tell you because you might feel left out!" May whined desperately, waving her arms about to make her point. I chuckled, realising this was probably the reason we went to bed so early.

"Eh? It really doesn't matter." I reassured her, rubbing my tired eyes. "I honestly doubt I'd be mentally prepared to go on a mission yet, I'd probably just collapse out of exhaustion right in the middle of a fight anyways!" I giggled, hopping back into the comfort of my bed. May gave a sigh of relief and Misty rolled her eyes.

"I told you she wouldn't mind!" She said with an exasperate tone causing May to childishly stick her tongue out at her.

* * *

Leaf was sitting alone in a big van. She was watching many screens, each showing one of the cameras inside the huge house that May and Misty had gone too. Leaf was a very strategic girl, she had brains, that was or sure. Things usually went her way, the way she had calculated the out-come to be. She had managed to hack into the main security system of the house to make sure that the other two would not be caught. She knew that this mission was going to be a piece of cake as their rival team had upped the defence of their important members, just not quite enough this time.

Misty and May had both already made it into the house of their target, from the pictures they had been shown before hand, he was a bald, elderly man with a long white moustache.

"Be careful girls, he's awake and sitting in the kitchen which is down the hall and the room to the left." Leaf's voice crackled through the ear-piece both of the young women were wearing. Misty nodded her head as the two swiftly made their way silently towards the kitchen. They both pressed themselves against the wall on either side of the open door. They both pulled their scarfs further up their face as May rolled a small metal object inside the room. Thick grey smoke erupted from it and the man inside instantly leapt up from his chair and began to cough violently.

The girls sprinted into the room and Misty began to leap for the man but pulled away to narrowly avoid being stabbed in the stomach with a small metal dagger, May giggled.

"This is going to be fun!" She said with as grin as wide as the Cheshire cat's as she threw a punch toward the man's head. He side stepped, only to receive a strong kick to the stomach. "Too slow." May stated as the man doubled over and she kicked the dagger from his hand. She threw an upper-cut to his chin causing him to groan, fall to the floor and knock his head on the table.

Misty pouted. "No fair, you got all the fun!"

"Ha, gotta be quicker than that!" May teased, skipping towards the door.

"Well you better not have killed him; we're screwed if you have!" Misty shouted out after her before shouldering the man and heading out of the door too.

"Aw, I wasn't that hard on him! And he barely put up a fight." May replied innocently. The two girls un-loaded their guest into the back of the van and securely strapped him in after checking his pulse just to make sure he didn't escape once he awoke.

"Well done girls!" Leaf said proudly.

"Green, you should have been there, you missed all of the fun!" May chirped, swinging her legs as she bucked herself into one of the seats. Leaf grinned at May and tapped one of the screens to the side of the van.

"I still watched you take him out," she stated, driving out of the side alley she had been parked in.

* * *

 **Dawn POV**

I woke up and glanced bleary eyed at the clock. It was currently 10am and I'd had the best sleep I'd had in at least a week. I sat up and stretched, glancing all about the room. Misty and Leaf were still asleep on the floor and May was snoring on the other bed. I remembered the events of last night and decided against the idea of waking them up to go down to the mess hall with me.

After slipping on a black hoodie over a white shirt and black leggings, I put the only shoes I owned on; my pink boots and tied my hair lazily up in a ponytail. _This will do for now_ I decided before quietly slipping out of the front door.

Only a few students were eating this late and so I got my own table at the corner of the room. After careful contemplation while nibbling my slice of toast, I decided that I'd go and see my Mum because studying could wait till later. I still had all of Sunday after all.

After finishing my food, I began the long walk down to the reception which was on the other side of the building, and in my opinion, it was a big building. I stopped and took a sharp breath as someone rounded the corner, he glared daggers at me and I mentally facepalmed. _Crap, I had a training session with Paul earlier!_ I screeched inside of my head as he rounded on me.

"Where the hell were you earlier?!" He growled, storming towards me. I instinctively took a step back, only to realise that the wall was blocking me from freedom. His intimidating figure stood at least a head above me and I wondered whether maybe I should kick him where the-sun-don't-shine and make a mad dash for it. As if he'd read my thoughts, he wearily eyed my leg and grabbed me harshly by the wrist to drag me all the way to the gym. I whimpered and wailed the entire way causing students to give me a sympathetic look. I didn't want their sympathy; I just wanted their help to get the hell away from this psychopath of a 'tutor'.

50 laps around the entire gym later, I thought my lungs were going to explode and my legs may literally fall right off. I collapsed onto the floor, my arms and legs sprawled out everywhere as I gasped for breath like a fish-out-of-water. Paul gave me a satisfied smirk and grabbed my shirt, pulling me to my feet. I wobbled slightly but managed to stay up-right. I glared at the man and puffed my cheek out in annoyance.

"Seriously… 50.. 50 laps… was not… necessary!" I panted grumpily, realising that I was going to need another shower before I even thought about going to see my mother afterwards.

"I honestly don't think it was enough!" He said grinning, obviously enjoying my pain. I raised my eyebrows curiously. This was the first time I'd ever seen him portray even a glimmer of joy, even if it was toward my suffering. His face instantly twisted back into his usual scowl as he walked toward one of the many punching bags and ordered me to punch it.

By the end of the lesson my knuckles were bright red and even more bruised with the added blister while my legs were aching much more than before. I grumpily trudged back to the dorm; Paul always seemed to put me in an irritable mood one way or another.

As I turned a corner, I stopped dead in my tracks. A guy was staring wide eyed at me and my heart seemed to speed up by a million beats a minute. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out.

 **Dun dun duuuuuun, I left ya on a cliffie, how d'ya like that?! :) But, I honestly found it really disturbing how the girls were enjoying the mission so much, especially May... And I was the one who friggin wrote it! I guess I always imagine that she'd be always teasing her enemy for being way too slow... I have no idea why. Actually come to think of it it's like how Racer (Sawyer) was from Fairy Tail. No idea how my messed up brain related them two but it did.**

 **~X-Ray :3**


	6. The Three Musketeers

"D… Dee dee?! Is that really you?!" He stuttered eventually, walking briskly towards me.

"Kenny!" I finally managed to say as I rushed towards him, pulling him into a tight hug. "And how many times do I have to tell you to quit calling me that!" I said with mock annoyance, pulling away to drink up his features. He'd matured quite a lot within all these years, he was wearing a tight vest and so his biceps were very visible and his abs showed clearly through the material though he had the same red hair and the same cheeky grin. A blush seemed to creep onto my cheeks at that moment and he smirked, I'd obviously been staring for a bit too long.

"Like what you see?" He teased, causing me to giggle and slap him playfully on the arm.

"You wish!" I retorted with a cheeky grin causing him to chuckle.

"Hey, let's hang out for a bit, you owe me an explanation! I thought you were freaking dead!" He exclaimed desperately. I smiled up at him.

"Sure, let's just go back to my dorm first, I need a shower." I said pulling a disgusted face as the clothes seemed to stick. Thank god I was wearing a T-Shirt underneath that hoodie and not a long sleaved shirt; Paul hadn't even let me change. Kenny blushed and I waggled my eyebrows at him. "Wouldn't be having any dirty thoughts now would we Mr. Kengo? I teased, grabbing his arm and pulling him in the direction of my room.

"I.. I wasn't…," he stuttered, causing me to giggle even harder.

"Sure…" I dragged on, smirking slightly.

As I stepped out of the warmth of the shower, I changed into fresh clothes and wrapped a towel tightly around my head. I walked into the main room where I saw Kenny flopped out onto the couch while flicking through the channels on my TV.

"There's nothing on at this time!" He grumbled, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Well I thought we were gonna be heading out to talk, not stuck in this stuffy room." I said, shoving the man off of the sofa and flicking off the TV. He glared playfully at me and pretended to dust himself off as he got up off of the floor. I chuckled at him and replaced the towel with my beanie, not caring if I went out with wet hair.

At that moment, the door was opened and May stepped in. She smiled at me and then glanced over at Kenny questioningly.

"May, meet Kenny, Kenny meet May." I said happily. "He was one of my best friends before I left," I explained.

"Nice to meet you Kenny!" May said, enthusiastically taking his hand in hers and shaking it vigorously. He gave her a lopsided grin and returned the gesture.

"Nice to meet you too," he replied friendlily.

"We're going out for a little walk but I'll be back in a bit," I told May as Kenny and I headed for the door.

"Well have fun you two!" May giggled, shutting the door on our way out. I sighed and grinned over towards Kenny.

"She's my new room-mate, awesome isn't she?" I exclaimed happily. Honestly, I think I'm enjoying it back here a little too much.

"She seems pretty fun," Kenny said honestly. He guided me through a door and we ended up in the court yard. I spied the tree May had brought me to a few days ago and a few students who had come out to enjoy the good weather or wanted to study outside. We sat on the soft grass under the shade of the building, leaning our backs against the wall. I felt obliged to explain exactly why I ran away, and what I was afraid of. I knew that Kenny was a great listener and he showed great concern for me when I explained my fears to him.

We had been sitting there for an hour just talking about life and getting to know each other once again when a voice was heard from a few feet away.

"I thought I'd find you here Kenny! You said you'd help me with my English and your half an hour late! Now, who the hell are you…Talking… To…" Her voice trailed off and we stared at each other for some time before I stood up and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Dee dee, where the hell have you been?!" She yelled, her voice cracking making it obvious she was tying now to cry. The young woman's name was Leona; she, Kenny and I had basically been the three musketeers when we were younger, we were practically inseparable. I began to wipe my eyes, realising that thick tears had begun to form. I stood back from her and noticed she too was wiping her jade eyes. Just like Kenny, she had matured a lot too and her hair had grown considerably longer yet it stayed true to its light brown colour. Then again, I guess I had matured and changed considerably as well.

"How come I didn't get such a dramatic reunion with you Dawn?!" Kenny asked in mock offence as he pulled the both of us in for a group hug. I giggled at him and slapped him playfully on the arm.

"Because you're a _Boy!"_ I said while childishly sticking my tongue out. Both Leona and Kenny chuckled at the remark.

The three of us made our way down to the reception to see my mother. She was sitting at the desk reading some kind of letter which I guessed had something to do with the company's finances. She had red rimmed reading glasses propped on her nose as her short hair was neatly tucked behind her ears.

"Aw, Mummy dear is getting old!" I teased, slinging my arm around her neck and poking her glasses as I sneaked behind the counter. She seemed slightly surprised at first but began to chuckle when she saw it was me.

"I hope you've been looking after my very _special_ daughter you two," she said, acknowledging my two childhood friends as she chuckled.

"We sure have Mrs. B!" Kenny grinned, saluting her. Leona chuckled at the comment and copied his action. Mum frowned for a moment before saying,

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you that Dawn was back though, I had been meaning to but I've had so much work lately…" She muttered, gesturing to the pile of paper on the desk.

"Ah, don't worry about it, we found her didn't we?!" Leona exclaimed cheerfully. "Until death do us apart," she added, making Kenny, Mum and I laugh.

 _Help Dawn._

"Hey, did you hear that?" I asked, looking around the room to see where the plea had come from.

"Hear what?" Kenny asked, flashing me a worried look.

"Um, never mind," I muttered, shaking my head. It was probably just my mind playing tricks on me. I had missed out on a few nights sleep after all.

 _I'm down here_

The voice came again. I frowned and turned around, finding no-one else in the room except my friends and my mother.

"I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be back in a sec," I said as I hurried out of the room, not waiting for a reply. I continued down a corridor until I came across a public bathroom. I held my head in my hands as I looked at my reflection in the large mirror hanging over the sinks. I really didn't look too great, big black circles hung under my eyes and my skin was paler than usual. All of this training and school work was really starting to hurt. I really hoped that I wasn't going mad. Normal people don't hear random voices in their head. All this work wasn't that stressful for me… was it?

I decided to get back to my dorm. The others wouldn't mind too much if I ditched them considering they know what I've been through. May was sitting on the sofa, she had her maths text book laid out on the small table in front of her and she seemed to be pondering over something. I chuckled and plopped down on the sofa next to her after grabbing my book as well.

The rest of the day consisted of assignments and homework. May was kind enough to help me with some of my stuff when she had finished as I was pretty much a dunce now.

As the two of us walked into the mess hall for dinner, I was almost immediately confronted by the prince of plumbs himself.

"Meet me in the gym by 7," he grunted, walking away before I could even ask why.

"What was that about?" May asked curiously.

"No idea," I said honestly as we continued towards the table where we usually sit. Kenny and Leona must have spotted me sitting down with the girls, they thundered through the hall, and only just stoped in time not to crash head long into our table.

"Where did you go before?!" Kenny exclaimed, grabbing my shoulders and shaking the living day lights out of me. Misty was quick to react, she grabbed the young man and put him in a fierce arm lock.

"Don't tough her!" She growled angrily, pulling harder and causing Kenny to wince.

"Mist, it's okay!" I said quickly, standing up to help my childhood friend out of the lock. Leona eyed my friends wearily, it wasn't going too well.

"Anyway…" I muttered, trying to break the tension. "Kenny, Leona, these are my friends Misty, May and Leaf. Guys, these are my childhood friends Kenny and Leona." I said quickly after, trying to keep the peace. The five of them shook hands, except for Kenny and May who had met earlier that day.

We all sat and talked for the rest of dinner time. As I glanced up at the huge clock on the wall, it read '6.40'. Misty seemed to also notice the time and excused herself from the table.

"Oi, follow me Dawn, I gotta show you something." She said, waiting for me to get out of my seat. I followed her, bidding goodbye to the rest of the group.

"Did Paul tell you about it?" She asked as we neared the end of the hall.

"Well, he told me to meet him in the gym at 7," I replied, wondering what she meant.

"Okay then, just follow me." She took a detour, we walked almost walked the complete opposite way to the gym, I was getting really curious as to what the two were up to. Misty soon entered a room on the left side of the corridor we were in. She told me to wait there and I did. She then came out carrying a plastic bag and I couldn't help but wonder what was in it.

"You're late," Paul muttered as we entered the gym. He was wearing fully black clothes with a hoddie tied around his waist and a scarf hanging loosely around his neck.

"Sorry, bout' that, we had to get her clothes," Misty said quickly, probably to stop me from arguing back.

"What clothes?" I asked instead, now peering into the bag that my friend held. It contained a black jumpsuit, just like the ones the three were wearing the other day, a hoodie and scarf along with a belt with all kinds of loops and 'pockets'. My eyes widened as I realised what was happening.

"So, I'm going on a mission?" I asked, looking from Paul to Misty. Misty nodded excitedly whereas Paul just rolled his eyes.

"Took you long enough, I do sometimes wonder if there's any brain in there at all," he sneered as he flicked my forehead. This earned him a punch to the shoulder and a death glare.

"Alright, break it up you two," Misty sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I reckon I'm the only mature one here," she mumbled, making it only just audible for Paul and I to hear. "Come on, lets get changed," she said, gesturing to the changing rooms at the back and pulling me along with her.

We then headed over to a huge room filled with weapons and gadgets of all kinds a few corridors down from the gym. One of the women inside provided Paul and I with numerous gadgets and a few weapons in case we got into any trouble.

"So, why are you guys coming with me?" I asked, even though I already knew the more than likely answer.

"To stop you from running away again," Paul muttered from the driver's seat of the van we were currently driving in, confirming my suspicions.

"I'm just filling in for leaf, Professor Oak wanted her for something so she couldn't come," Misty explained. "You two will be doing the field work; I'll just be here in case anything happens to you." She paused before adding quickly, "Though I doubt it will be considering you're just getting a book."

"A book? What for?" I asked curiously, masking my relief as I was afraid that I'd have to kill someone…

"Dunno, they didn't tell us. It's supposedly classified for the scientists or something." I sat and processed the information Mist had given me. It seemed weird that we were stealing a mere book; they probably could have gotten one _without_ stealing and risking the lives of their agents…

As we drove, Misty showed me a photo of the book Paul and I had to get. It looked extremely old, even the picture it itself looked like it was taken with one of the first cameras.

"Apparently we've been looking for this for decades and we've only just found out its location," Misty explained. "It's supposedly one of a kind, written in the early 19th century," she added. This explained why we were supposed to steal it.

 **Okay, so I guess the plot is moving on a bit now xD But hey, I'm so so sorry if Kenny and Leona seem OOC! I honestly really hate Kenny in the anime xD He's just a little whiny bitch in my opinion _ Sooo I had to make him a bit cooler :I also, it's kinda hard to do Leona considering she only appears once… Please forgive me for it! Oh and yeaaa... Just for future reference, there is going to be some one-sided penguin shipping, maybe a bit of full on penguinshipping every now and again... *Ducks away from all the flames* But c'mon please don't hate me for it xD I mean, it wouldn't be a good story if there wasn't even a little bit of shipping rivalry right?**

 **~X-Ray**


	7. I killed her father

**Dawn POV**

The car stopped in what seemed a small crescent. There were only a few small houses and we made sure to park in the least conspicuous place. Paul got out and I followed suit, following him down the road. I had to jog to keep up with his long stride, I wasn't the tallest of people and my legs were much smaller than his so it was kind of difficult.

"So, how many missions have you been on now?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

"Too many to count," he muttered to my surprise, as I wasn't expecting him to answer.

"This is my first one, well, not including the one where I kinda didn't finish," I giggled as I silently wondered how many people he must have killed.

He grunted in response, it was an irritating noise that I'd found he used a lot.

The rest of the time was passed in silence but we soon found ourselves standing in front of a house that was slightly bigger than the rest. A tall iron fence swept the perimeter of the lot. It would be a piece of cake for us to climb over despite the sharp spikes at the very top. We pulled our hoods on and scarves us to mask out noticeable features, especially since both of our hair colours were rather conspicuous. I now realised how easy Ash must have it with his black hair.

The two of us padded silently through the front garden and pressed ourselves against a wall at the back of the house. We made our way around to the back where a door stood. Paul pulled the handle and surprisingly, stupidly, it was open. We found ourselves in a smallish utility room. From memory, I knew that the door at the end of the room lead into a large hallway where a set of stairs lead into a spacious basement which was being used as the library. We figured that the book would most likely be held somewhere down there.

Paul walked out in front of me. He slowly opened the door and looked around, checking if the coast was clear. He then signaled for me to follow him out of the room and into the hallway.

A Television was blaring in the sitting room opposite the staircase we were pressed up against. I could see the silhouette of a person sitting on a couch facing away from us. We made our way down the stairs at the end and into the library.

Paul switched on his torch and I copied him. The yellow light made it possible for me to see the rows and rows of shelves filled with hundreds, if not thousands of books. It really did look like a proper library.

"How are we gonna find it in this?!" I exclaimed as quietly as I could.

Paul just seemed to ignore me as he continued to flash the beam of light across the shelves, obviously searching for the book. I followed suit, sweeping the luminosity across the mass of books that lined the shelf closest to me. I began to slowly walk down it, all the way to the end. There were books upon books of fairy tales and stories of princesses and dragons and knights in shining armour. Being unable to resist, I picked up the nearest one and began to skim through it. Paul wouldn't notice if I stopped looking for a minute or so…

 _As the strange, scaly dragon boy with the scruffy pink hair took her hand, the beautiful young princess with the flowing blonde hair smiled to herself. She'd soon be away from the palace, from the painful memories of her mother in the coffin… her beautiful features still and un-moving, never to smile that heart-warming smile ever again. But also of her father who neglected and ignored her, ever since her mother had passed. The boy grinned a toothy grin, his fangs bared and his eyes which were so full of vibrant life crinkled at the edges. She smiled in return as he squeezed her petite hand gently and led her out of the castle grounds, out of her old life and into a new, carefree and happy world. The two stopped and the princess turned her dragon around to face her, his wings arched and his features showed a look of curiosity. She smiled lovingly at him, at her strange dragon boy. She stood up on her tip-toes, leaning in and planting a soft, gentle kiss on his che-_

BAM. A hand slammed down onto the page I was reading and I slowly, looked up to see Paul glaring daggers at me. I grinned sheepishly up at him, blushing ever so slightly. He waved an old, tattered looking book in my face and it didn't take me long to realise that this was the book we were looking for.

"I managed to find it… no thanks to _you_ stupid girl," He growled, still glaring down at me. I pouted, turning my head to look away from him as he snatched the cute little book out of my hands. He raised his eyebrows at the title, _The flames and Keys,_ and he to, began to flick through the pages.

He snickered and rolled his eyes at me, taking my hand and yanking me up. "You really are very troublesome…" He half chuckled, half sneered. I blushed and quickly stole my hand away from his touch, realising he was still holding it. I poked my tongue out at him childishly and strutted off, heading towards the exit.

"Guys, be careful, a car just pulled up outside the house and they're four men heading in." Misty's voice startled me at first but Paul was quick to act, he pulled me against the wall and into the shadows just as we heard people heading down the stairs. The footsteps became almost completely silent as they made their way to the bottom. Two burly men walked unknowingly passed, clicking their torches on and disappearing into the depths of the library, most likely in search of us. Paul hurried me along, pulling his hood back on and scarf up. I did the same, making sure it was impossible for anyone to identify me.

As we passed the double doors which separated the stairs from the library, Paul stopped to shut them securely, locking the two men in; the thinking of a true assassin. We got up the stairs, only to find that our exit was blocked by a tall man, his height rivaled that of Paul's however Assassins were trained to be sneaky; they had it planted into their minds from the moment of training that once an advantage over the enemy was seen it was to be used, no matter how 'dirty'.

I watched as Paul un-haltered a small gun from his belt and aimed at the man blocking our way. Without a moment's hesitation, he pulled the trigger and the man fell limp against the door, a loud thump could be heard as his body hit the ground, the lifeless eyes staring right at us, his head now Blood trickled from the perfectly centred wound in his forehead as a pool of crimson began to gather beneath his head.

I shivered at the corpse and then glanced wearily at Paul as we rounded the corner and headed for the door. He was a trained killing machine, he'd been taught to murder pretty much from the moment he could walk. He glanced over at me, and for once, I was actually terrified of him. His grey eyes hiding all trace of emotion, he didn't seem to think twice or even regret having killed that man. I lingered behind him, not wanting to get too close as he dragged the body out of the path of the door but not before I felt cold hands wrap around my neck and something sharp poking into my cheek.

Being a trained assassin myself, I knew exactly what to do in these kinds of situations. I grabbed the crook of the elbow of the man holding me and swiftly ducked under his arm, pulling him in a sharp arm lock and kicking the knife out of his hand quickly. He yelped in pain as I straitened his arm out, pushing and pulling on both ends until I heard a loud 'crack'. I saw from the corner of my eye the body of a man in a black suit fall to the floor, Paul standing over him with the knife I originally kicked away from the man covered in blood. With my attention on Paul, the man took the moment to punch me square in the stomach with his good hand. I doubled over in pain and he took that moment to strike again. In a flash, Paul was by my side, he kicked the man, causing him to fall to the ground. I could hear him moaning in pain as he landed on his broken arm. Paul hauled him up, kicking the bloodied knife to me.

I shakily picked it up, I was shivering, my eyes wide. The man watched me intently, practically forcing me to look him right into his pleading, green eyes. I stumbled over to where he was being held and brought the knife up above my head before plunging it down into his throat. He began to cough up blood and Paul let him fall to the floor. I looked over at him wildly and then back at the dying man. I began to shake, I couldn't move my body, I trembled and sank down onto the ground. A second later, my head snapped up as I heard loud padding sounds coming down the stairs which lead to the second floor. Paul was already there with a knife waiting for the new found visitor.

A little girl who looked around eight years of age appeared before us. She was holding a well-worn brown bunny rabbit and an adorable pink night-gown adorned her small figure. Her long, black hair, which resembled the colour of the man's I had just murdered, hung over here eyes as she rubbed them sleepily. Paul and I stayed stock still, her eyes widened as she took in the scene before here and a blood curdling scream aroused from her tiny mouth. Paul was behind her in a split second; he clamped his hand over her mouth, muffling the noise and instantly put her into a sleeper hold. Her eyelids fluttered shut and her body became limp in his grasp. He gently laid her down on the stairs and tucked the brown rabbit under her arm.

I just stared at him, part of me amazed by the fact that a killer such as him could be so gentle. The rest of me was in a state of utter shock. One sentence, which didn't seem to make sense to me, kept repeating itself in my head; you killed this girl's father, as the scene that just unfolded replayed over and over. I felt strong, warm arms lift up my body and guide me out of the house.

"Misty, get the van ready, we're done here." I heard Paul mutter, yet his gruff voice seemed very far away from me now. I was picked up bridal style and could feel myself moving faster. Paul and I were obviously in a hurry to get to somewhere, but I wasn't sure where. I could hear urgent voices talking back and forth, I was still replaying the event that had just occurred and each time I saw it was more agonizing than the last.

I finally awoke from my daze. My vision was blurred but it soon focused on cold, steel-grey eyes. That was when the truth of the matter hit me like a tidal wave. I'd killed that girl's father. She was fatherless. He was gone from her life forever. Tears sprang from my eyes and glided down my face, I tried desperately to wipe them away so as to not let Paul see but he already had. He rolled his eyes at me and I felt ashamed, completely and utterly judged, unable to prevent the sobs from wracking my body.

"You're going to need to get used to this," he said simply. I bit my lip in an attempt to stop the snivels, this was true, I was trapped here for the rest of my life, like a puppet on string. I remembered then why I had left in the first place.

He moved away from me and climbed into the driver's seat where the car set off. Misty had been watching the entire thing, she had a concerned look printed across her face but I stubbornly wiped the tears away, refusing to be pitied.

I spied the book that we had been sent to retrieve. _What's so great about it anyway?_ I wondered to myself. Knowing well that we most probably weren't allowed to read it, I took it anyway as Misty turned away to look out of the window. I obscured it from her view so she was oblivious to the fact that I was actually reading it, I turned to a random page and began.

 _These creatures, they have extraordinary power. For example, the water types can create water using nothing but their sheer power alone, this is unheard of in our dimension. The inhabitancies have made it possible for them to be contained within a containment unit called a 'pokeball'._ The person had then scribbled down something that looked almost like the logo of our company. _The one they call a 'mew' has the ability to know every single 'move' in existence. If its cellular structure could be modified, or if it was to learn to obey the humans of this worl-_

I was stopped short once again as the book was snatched away from my hands by Misty.

"If anyone finds out you were reading this, we're all screwed!" She exclaimed, the panic was obvious in her eyes.

"No need to worry!" I said confidently. "It's fine, if you don't tell, I won't," I chuckled. I had so many questions. What did it mean 'in our dimension' and what creatures was the person talking about? Why would team rocket need this piece of crap when it was obviously fake?

 **I swear to god, at one point I thought this fic was turning into a NaLu xD Ah well, hope you enjoyed that little 'easter egg' for those that noticed :) I had to add more Ikari moments just to suffice, no complaints here though, heh. Sorry I didn't have this done earlier, school's been a real pain in the ass lately _ Anyways, I hope you enjoyed as always :D**

 **~X-Ray**


	8. Jealousy

_The child's eyes bore into my own, they were shining with the tears that I knew were about to fall. In my arms lay the body of a man who resembled the child. Her lips moved as if she was speaking but I couldn't hear a thing. Tears spilled over my own cheeks as my hands became slippery with blood as the body seemed to be melting into just that. I began to scream, the body gone by now and the child looking at me with a mournful hatred. I covered my ears and closed my eye. The blood was suffocating me, my lungs felt as if they were about to burst…_

I shot up, my body damp with a cold sweat and shaking as I forcefully panted. I shook my head, looking over at the clock.

2am.

Great. There was no way I would be sleeping for a while and so, yet again, I was going to be sleep deprived in the morning. I rubbed my damp, itchy eyes, the nightmare flowing back into my mind. I shuddered, it wasn't the first time I'd experienced it. Her eyes still haunted me, green orbs wide with fright and sorrow. _I killed that girl's father_.

I turned to look at May; she was sleeping peacefully on the opposite side of the room to me, completely unaware of the doleful eyes that plagued my thoughts.

I slowly slid out of the warmth of my bed and headed into the bathroom where I pulled my black hoodie over my head. I slid my pink boots on, not caring that I was about to go out in my pyjamas as there would be no-body out at this time considering it was hours past curfew and most of the agents would be asleep now anyway.

I silently wandered through the corridors, my boots muffled by the carpet below. I shoved my hands into my pockets as I stepped out into the freshness of the night. Considering it was very early, the coldness of the air pierced my visible flesh like knives. I shuddered, trying to pull my hoodie further around myself.

I made my way towards the great oak tree which stood almost creepily in the night, sliding down its trunk and pulling my knees up to my chest. I rested my chin on my hands and gazed out over the courtyard, trying to rid my mind of those mournful eyes. A tall figure caught my eye; they were standing facing away from me, hands in pockets and looking up at the cloudless sky.

A sudden gust of wind blew and the hood of their hoodie was tugged down, revealing purple, chin-length hair. I tilted my head in confusion, _what's Paul doing out at this time?_ I asked myself curiously before standing up and trotting over to him.

He glanced lazily down at me, rolling is eyes as he did so. He didn't seem at all surprised to see me, although I wasn't really amazed considering we're trained to be ready for anything.

"What're you doing out here?" I asked innocently, rocking back and fourth on my heels.

"What I'm doing here is none of your business." He grunted, turning back to look up at he sky. I raised an eyebrow, following his gaze. The only thing that was visible in the sky was the billions of stars. _Is he interested in constellations?_ I wondered, an amused smile making its way onto my face. Somehow his rudeness himself did not strike me as a person who would be fascinated by astronomy.

We stood in silence for a while until he asked,

"What are you doing out here?" Somehow I felt compelled to tell him the truth, even though he didn't give an answer to the question himself, maybe it was because he was the only one to witness how I murdered that girl's father in cold blood. I shook my head, trying to figure out how I should word my answer.

"Well…" I muttered quietly. "I can't get her eyes out of my head." I didn't feel like telling him about the nightmares, if I did he'd probably smirk and give me an accusing look, telling me that I was pathetic for being affected by the whole ordeal in such a big way.

"…" Unsurprisingly, Paul did absolutely nothing. He just stood, staring into the night with his dark eyes. I let out a long sigh and re-adjusted the position in which I was standing.

"Will she ever go away?" I whispered hoarsely, my voice cracking as I said it. I could feel the tears building at the edge of my eyes and I blinked them away forcefully. Paul turned to face me, his head slowly moving from side to side. No.

I didn't want her plaguing my mind for the rest of my life, her glossy green eyes watching my every move, reminding me during my every waking moment of the terrible sin that I had committed but also throughout my once peaceful dreams. I noticed the man beside me pull something out of his pocket; I turned to him to get a better look at it.

"Here," he grunted, handing me the object and turning his head away. "It's that idiotic story you were reading before in the library." I slowly took the book from his outstretched hand and smiled gently. I guess, he was trying to comfort me in his own little way, and I appreciated it.

* * *

I sighed, pulling my knees up to my chest as I waited for May to finish in the bathroom, it was almost time for our first classes and she was still getting ready. I glanced at the book I held in my hands, it's beautiful gold and happy cover completely contrasting with the mood I was currently in. I sighed, that 'late night' stroll had done more bad than good; I was still trying to get that little girl out of my head so it had not helped in that sense and I was extremely tired from the lack of sleep. Big black circles hung under my eyes and I had no way of hiding them so I was going to have to go to class looking like complete crap.

May finally finished and we made our way through the 'school'. Half way there, a young boy came pounding down the corridor and smashed right into May. She grabbed him by the shoulders and began to shake him mercilessly, I just stood there completely unsure of what to do.

"What the hell Max! That really hurt!" She yelled, receiving weird looks from the people around us. I jumped in, in an attempt to pry her from the poor boy that seemed rather dizzy by now. When she let go he repositioned his glasses on his nose.

"Jeez May, you really need to watch where you're going, you klutz!" He said, sticking his tongue out at my friend. I could practically see the steam rising from her head as she clenched her fists in annoyance.

"You were the one who slammed into me Max!" She growled, hostilely making her way towards him again.

"Now now," I sweat dropped, stepping between them before May murdered the kid whose name was apparently Max. "Why don't you introduce me to your… friend?" I said, turning towards May. She huffed and crossed her arms, glaring at him from a distance.

"He's called Max and he's my brother." I turned to look at each of them in turn.

"You guys look nothing alike! I'd never have guessed that," I exclaimed. Max smirked and pushed his glasses up his nose again.

"I'm very glad you think that, I'd be really unfortunate for me to look like that!" He said, pointing accusingly at his sister. I chuckled nervously and before May was able to choke him to death, he sprinted off again.

"Honestly, why do I have to be related to such a brat?!" May huffed as we made our way down the corridor. I gave her a sideways glance and muttered

"I've always wanted siblings." She turned to look at me and smiled, her bad mood seemingly evaporated within a matter of seconds.

"Well, he is an alright kid when he isn't being such a no-it-all jerk," she noted.

"The closest people I had to siblings were Kenny and Leona," I mused.

"I guess you three were really close before hand huh?"

"Yeah, were really were,"

"You know, you're really lucky they didn't get rejected," she declared before waltzing into her classroom and leaving me standing, utterly confused by her statement.

I shook my head, deciding to question her about it later and made my way down to the training room where my class was being held. In my physical classes I didn't have any of my friends to help me so I was completely alone. My training with Paul however was helping me to improve and I was catching up moderately fast. I still had my ass handed to me whenever we had sparring, yet I was slowly improving.

Tokou and Rosa, Silver and Gold, Dawn and Zoey…" Our trainer, Lieutenant Surge, called out the names of people who would be working together for the day. I looked across the room to see a red head watching me closely and then stand and walk towards me.

"Zoey," she said simply, holding her hand up for me to shake, which I did.

"Dawn…" I replied, not knowing how to react to her. From what I could tell, she seemed like a real tom boy, even more so than Misty. She grinned at me and I smiled back; although she seemed nice either way.

Throughout the lesson, my mind was set on what May had said to me earlier; _what does she mean by 'rejected'_ I thought to myself, only to be knocked back to reality, literally, as Zoey's fist collided with my jaw.

"Owww…" I groaned, clutching the spot she had hit.

"Sorry bout' that, you were spacing out and I couldn't get your attention," she stated simply. "Anyway, I may not be in any position to ask, but I will. What were you thinking about?"

I studied her closely, deciding that she may be able to answer my question.

"What does it mean to be 'rejected'" I asked finally. Zoey went silent for a moment and watched me closely.

"A few years ago we had someone betray us, I'm not sure exactly what they did but it was enough for them to change the procedures we had in place. Now when you're about 11-12, you take this trial. All of the older students had to as well when it first came out too, but it basically tests your loyalty and ability. If you fail it, they get rid of you; that's why we have fewer seniors than juniors, it begins in a few months, and so soon they'll be less people running around this place again."

I took a moment to think this through. Kenny and Leona could have been killed… What was I going to have to do? My loyalty wasn't exactly up to scratch and I hadn't actually taken the test yet.

"Hey are you okay Dawn?" Zoey questioned, her face showing concern. "You look a little pale."

"Yeah, I'm all good," I reassured, plastering a tight smile to my face. She shot me another look but didn't mention anything for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this before?!" I yelled frantically, pacing around our room as May tried her best to calm me down.

"It'll be okay, if anything, I'm sure we'll be able to get Paul to pull a few strings if you do have to take the test." She said cheerily as I shot her a doubtful look.

"He hates me!" I declared, sinking down onto my bed in despair.

"No he doesn't; what about that book he gave you? I doubt he's ever given anyone a gift before until now." She smirked slyly as my eyes shifted to the golden, leather bound book that lay on our desk.

"Oh please, the only reason he gave it to me was because he grabbed it from my hands on a mission and must have forgotten to put it back." I sighed.

"Well, Max is going to have to take it soon, and there's no way a know-it-all brat like him could fail, so if he can, you'll pass for sure!"

"But you said only the top 50 or so pass…" I moaned, wallowing in my own pity. "I'll never get that good."

"Look, you might not even have to take it, anyway I have to go, I have a mission to go on, I'll see you later Dawn." And with that, I was all alone.

I pulled my knees up to my chest, the silence enveloping me in its soft, melodic beats. I sighed, deciding that now was not the time to dwell on the matter. I'd just have to deal with that stuff at a later date and so I got up and grabbed my maths book out of my bag.

 _Dawn…_

My head whipped up, I looked around but couldn't see anyone.

 _Dawn…_

It said again but slightly more urgent this time. The voice, it sounded so familiar, it put a sense of longing in my heart. I got up and looked around frantically looking for the source of the noise yet I was alone in the room.

 _Help me._

My eyes widened, it was the same voice I had heard a few days ago while down at reception.

 _Please._

It seemed completely raw with emotion now, pleading and begging me to do something to help it. My heart suddenly sped up a million beats a minute, I recognised that voice, I can't believe I hadn't before. I must truly be going crazy now.

"Dad…" I whispered hoarsely to the room around me, tears spilling over my eyes and down my cheeks. "Dad!" I said again, louder and more forceful this time. "Please, answer me!" I cried, my heart feeling as if it had been ripped out of my chest.

"Dad!" I screamed. "Please… Don't leave me again," I sobbed, slumping to the ground and curling up in a tight ball, hugging my knees tightly. "Please…"

I could faintly hear the door opening and noticed that someone was sanding a little way from me, maybe unsure of what to do.

"Dad…" I whispered again, the tears still streaming down my cheeks and the sobs violently shaking my body. I felt someone gently pull me to a sitting position and through the blur of tears, I noticed lavender hair. He sat down so he was as level with me as he could be considering his height. I felt myself fall onto him, my head resting on his strong chest.

 **Normal POV**

Paul sat there awkwardly, completely and utterly unsure of what to do and so, the only thing he could think of was to stiffly wrap his arms around her small stature. He sighed irritably, realising that his shirt was getting damp because of her tears. He managed to bare it however, after all, he'd made _him_ a promise, and that promise had to be kept.

They sat there like that for quite a few minutes while Paul thought over what Dawn was saying. He had no idea what had caused her to get like that, her father had been dead for years, why was it affecting her so much now?

He sighed, understanding all too well what it's like to loose someone so precious to you, this facility was sick and twisted like that, they didn't care who they killed if it was to their advantage. The children born into this environment were truly cursed.

Dawn's breathing soon slowed and Paul realised that she had fallen asleep. He sighed irritably but couldn't help but think that she looked kind of adorable as she was. He mentally shot himself for thinking such stupid things and gently lifted her up to put her in her bed.

"Hey, Dawn I dunno if you're in here but just to let you know the… door is… open…" Kenny called, walking into the room only the stop and find Paul holding Dawn bridal style, the purple haired man's emotionless mask kept in tacked as the other boy stared him down.

"What the hell are you doing with her perv?!" Kenny screeched, getting ready to tackle Paul to the ground. Paul glared at the younger boy before lowering Dawn into her bed.

"I happened to be putting her to bed because she fell asleep," he growled, walking back towards the door. Kenny's face turned bright red.

"What gives you the permission to… to come into her room uninvited?!" He snarled sharply. Paul was unfazed and smirked at the remark.

"I was merely helping her; anyway, what gives _you_ the right to come here uninvited?" He questioned coolly.

"Well, unlike _you, I_ happen to be her closet, childhood friend!" he retorted childishly. Paul merely looked at the boy, his face kept to that stoic mask he always wore; he then walked out of the room and down the corridor, leaving Kenny fuming.

"What a jerk!" He growled before shutting the door and slumping onto the couch by the other side of the room.

 **Ahh the fluff, you gotta love it. I can just imagine some adorable ikarishipping moment happening and Kenny just standing in the background, steam practically rising from his head as he gets all jealous because he was her special childhood friend and he found her first xD I honestly came up with that test thing completely spontaneously as I was writing because I realised that there'd probably be way too many people there if they just let everyone through so we'll have to see how that turns out.**

 **~X Ray**


	9. Forgiven

**Hey guys sorry for not updating for a while. School just finished for me and you know, during the last few weeks it's pretty hectic with all the exams and what not. Well, now that I am on my Summer hols (yes Australia's seasons are messed up lol) I may be able to post more than once every two weeks, we'll just have to see how busy I am heh. (I have no life so I'll most likely be doing nothing xD) Plus considering we're coming up to christmas, I do have some oneshots planned so look out for them!**

 **Normal POV**

Misty had eventually realised that being a hot head and having a very short temper was not a very good trait to have while living within team rocket. Now, she'd eventually managed to control her anger, however, during moments such as these, she completely forgot the meaning of self control.

The girl's fists clenched as she watched the scene before her.

Ash was awkwardly standing in a corner as Serena flirtatiously giggled and batted her eye lashes at him.

Misty was beyond pissed. She hated seeing the brunette flirting with Ash, even if he was completely oblivious to it. She refused to believe that she was jealous; she just hated Serena; that was all, because she had taken him away from her. It had obviously got nothing to do with the raven haired boy; however she hated him as well, for abandoning her.

Just then, Ash's gaze fell upon the red head, his almond eyes wide and pleading, he obviously felt uncomfortable, yet she saw no reason why she should help him. He was the reason she always felt a droning ache inside of her all day every day.

Misty rolled her eyes and marched up to the girl anyway. She tapped her on the shoulder, Serena's sickly sweet smile turned sour as she saw the person opposite her.

"Why don't you go fangirl somewhere else?" Misty growled, putting her hands on her hips aggressively.

"I'm not fangirling at all, Ash and I were just talking, right?" Serena giggled, turning to the addressed.

"Um... sure..." Ash muttered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Besides, I bet you don't even know what fangirling is tomboy!" She scoffed, flicking her long brown hair confidently.

"I know way more than you think I do" Misty sighed, rolling her cerulean eyes.

"Well, you were kind of interrupting Ash and I... so if you wouldn't mind," she made a shooing motion with her hands as if Misty was some kind of annoying vermin.

"Hey Serena, quit being mean to Misty!" Ash piped up, his brows furrowed in annoyance. "Can't we all just be friends?" He almost pleaded.

"Not if it evolves being friends with a slut like her!" Serena declared, pointing an accusing finger at the red head.

Misty scoffed, surprisingly she hadn't knocked the girl out yet.

"That's rich, coming from you. How the hell did you pass the 'rejection' exam?! Now that I wanna know! I bet you some how seduced the examiner with that low cut shirt and tiny skirt of yours."

Serena seemed to shut up at this point. She glared daggers at the girl opposite her and stormed off.

"You know, she is pretty nice when you get to know her..." Ash offered quietly.

"Yeah I can tell, you know, I really do like being called a tomboy and a slut Ash."

The boy was silent for a moment, looking at her with a weird expression on his face which said 'really?' Misty rolled her eyes.

"It's called sarcasm idiot. Look, you obviously didn't need my help, I'm sorry for intervening with your little 'conversation'." She spat, channeling her anger out onto her ex-best friend. With that she began to huff down the corridor.

"Hey Mist wait!" Ash yelled, running to catch up. "I didn't mean it like that okay? I'm sorry and thank you for helping me, she was getting a bit too much,"

When Misty didn't stop, Ash let out a small growl and tackled the poor girl, gripping his arms around her waist and not allowing her to escape his hold as she struggled.

"Let go of me!" She snarled. "You made it clear that you didn't want to be friends when you left me before! When you stopped hanging out with me for that bitch! I don't even know why I did what I did a second ago!" She practically yelled, trying to prevent the un-shed tears from falling. "You left me..." She muttered, finally ceasing her struggle.

"Misty..." Ash whispered sorrowfully. He gently led her to a near by, empty classroom, knowing how much she hated people seeing her seem weak.

He didn't say anything for a while as they sat, backs against the wall, side by side.

"I never left you," he muttered after a while. "I just couldn't be with you as much because Paul was forcing us all to train much harder for that elite position. The rest of my time was taken up… by... Serena..." He stopped as he realised what he'd just said. "Oh god Misty... I'm so sorry. I thought you were the one avoiding me all this time..." Ash gasped.

Misty rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to smack him upside the head. He was as oblivious as ever.

"She just seemed so sad without me," he explained, "she told me we met before when we were really young, I patched up her knee or something on one of those training activities the younger kids do... I honestly don't remember but she seemed so upset... so I just played along..."

Misty grimaced; Ash was way too nice all the time. There really was no problem with it really, it made him all the more sweeter if anything, yet it sometimes came with a price.

"I realise now that I truly abandoned you in doing so." He bowed his head, not looking the girl in the eyes. "Please forgive me!" He exclaimed, voice quivering.

Misty was silent for a long time, she then slowly began to nod her head.

"I forgive you Ash," she said, trying not to smile so much. The boy's eyes lit up and he pulled her closer in a tight embrace.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise Misty, I'll find a way to make up for all of those years you felt lonely!" A huge smile was now plastered to his face. "I promise!"

Misty then slapped the back of his head, gaining a groan in response.

"Idiot," she grumbled.

* * *

Kenny lounged on Dawn and May's sofa, sighing in defeat as he turned to TV off because there was nothing good to watch.

Him and Dawn were currently the only ones in the room, Dawn was sitting on her bed engrossed in the book Paul had given her while Kenny did nothing, feeling rather bored.

"Hey Dawn, can I ask you something?" He asked out of the blue.

"Hmm" Dawn hummed, not entirely paying attention.

"Why was Paul in your room yesterday?" Dawn's head snapped up, she furrowed her eye brows, deciding not to tell him the truth. She hated seeming weak in front of people, having Paul know, let alone see her in that state was bad enough.

"Oh, no reason really," She said, brushing the question off. "Just helping me with training... and stuff."

"Oh," Kenny said simply, not pressing the question any further.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, Dawn went to answer and smiled as she saw who it was.

"Hey Zoey, come in." She said, stepping aside to let the girl through.

"I brought the notes you wanted for theory," she began as she walked inside.

"Ah yeah, thanks. Oh hey have you met Kenny?" Dawn asked as she walked in and slapped the man on the couch.

"Hey what was that for?!" He complained humorously. Dawn replied with a devious look as Zoey hovered by the entrance. She seemed to watch them closely, a slight hue of red tainted her cheeks.

"So... have you guys met?" Dawn questioned awkwardly.

"No," Zoey replied quickly. "It's nice to meet you but I should really get going, sorry for the intrusion," She bowed before hurrying out the door.

"What was that about?" Kenny questioned. Dawn just stood dumbfounded, Zoey was usually calm and collected about everything and was pretty laid back, this was weird.

"She isn't normally like that..." Dawn muttered, shaking her head.

"Well she's weird," Kenny concluded, receiving a sharp look from the bluenette.

"Oi!" Dawn growled, slapping him again. "You barely know her, she's usually really cool. "Maybe something happened, I should go check it out."

Kenny shrugged and sat up, heading towards the door.

"Well, I'm gonna go study with Leona, do whatever you wanna do, though she'd probably appreciate it if you came along too, I heard you needed the extra help, unless you wanna go and leave us again." He said casually.

"I can't tell whether you're subtly guilt tripping me or not, but I suppose you're right..." Dawn sighed, following her friend out and locking the door behind them. _I'm sure she's fine..._

* * *

Dawn groaned for the millionth time that hour, she had a headache and was already tired of studying.

"What is even the point in this, I really don't see why an assassin needs any of this!" She whined, throwing her science book dramatically across the room.

"Now Dawn, we need to be smart, I know none of us here chose this life, however, I'm sure that eventually you'll grow to appreciate it."

Dawn sent her friend a weird look.

"Yeah cause we all love killing the innocent and not being able to interact with normal human beings." She sighed, lying down on her back and staring up at the ceiling.

"Daaawwnnn," Kenny dragged on, "You're supposed to be 'little miss optimist' remember? What happened?!"

"Well, I guess I just realised the reality of what this facility is doing," every one was silent for a moment.

"That escalated quickly," Kenny stated innocently, causing the girls to laugh.

"Yeah well, I reckon Mr Grumpy pants' pessimism is rubbing off one me, it's not good!" Dawn huffed, rubbing her temples.

"Who?"

"Paul Shinji!" Leona pipped up. "I see you two together all the time now! It's adorable really," she added slyly as Kenny narrowed his eyes, annoyed by the fact that Dawn had brought up Paul.

"What?!" Dawn screeched, her cheeks beginning to burn, "we hate each other! He's so annoying and grumpy all the time!" She exclaimed.

"Anyways," Kenny said irritably, wanting to change the subject, "do you know whether you're gonna have to do the exam?" He asked her, feeling very concerned for her safety.

"Um, no not yet, no one's said anything about it," She replied, "I hope I don't have to do it…"

"I'm sure Paul will fight for you and not let you do it," Leona giggled deviously. Dawn crash tackled her friend who was unable to get free of the bluenette due to her hysterical laughter.

Kenny just rolled his eyes grumpily and got back to studying.

* * *

Paul growled, he hated playing messenger, he'd much rather be participating in a mission right now, yet there he was, taking the book that he and Dawn had retrieved the other day down to the lab.

He hated the place, it brought forward too many painful memories that he had shoved to the very back of his mind.

Paul sighed and looked down at the book he was holding, normally he would be able to contain his curiosity, this, however, was different. Maybe it was because the object that was so important to the team was a book or maybe it was some other compelling reason, but Paul couldn't help himself.

Slowly, he opened the door of a dark room and went inside. He'd never been in there before but he assumed that it wasn't used much.

He fished a small torch from the belt wrapped around his waist and began to read the first page.

 _After 7 years of being trapped in the alternate dimension, I have finally returned to the current time period; previous experiment that we concocted failed, some how sending me away. I have however, learnt rather a lot during my time away and the information I have is valuable, we will be able to use it to win any war in the future and keep our people safe. These 'pokemon' will be able to aid us in so many ways. The team has already begun to build the portal leading to the other dimension, this project is defying all of the time and space laws, it gives us an entirely new perspective on the universe and it appears I am now forever linked to that world, as will be my ancestors for generations to come._

\- _Joseph – Charles Berlitz._

Paul stared at the first entry for a while. This man had the same surname as Dawn, what the hell was he talking about the 'alternate dimension' crap for and what in the world were pokemon? The team couldn't possibly believe that this book was legitimate could they?! There was absolutely no way that it could be real.

'Suppose they did think, or it was actually real… Would they try to do anything to Dawn?' Paul asked himself. 'I'm going to have to keep an eye out for her, I did promise after all.'

The man then closed the book and cautiously walked out of the room, his mind buzzing with all of the new found information. He made his way down to the main lab and handed the book to a scientist who then scurried off into a securely locked room to the left.

* * *

May sighed; she'd been going over all of the fighting techniques with her brother for the past two hours yet had had enough of his cocky attitude and stormed out. He really needed to improve on his fighting abilities if he wanted to get through this test; she honestly thought it was worrying her more than it was him.

She couldn't lose her brother as well, their parents had been moved to another branch across the continent when they were younger and the siblings hadn't seen them since, they doubted they ever would again.

The girl sniffed and covered her hands over her eyes. She was glad that the courtyard was practically empty because she didn't want anyone to see her like this. She just couldn't lose her brother because she'd have nothing left.

A few minutes later she felt someone standing over her and quickly rubbed her eyes dry, she glared up at the figure and growled as she saw who it was.

"Are you okay?" Drew asked with seemingly genuine concern. May knew better however and continued to glare daggers at the boy.

"Go away," she hissed defensively.

"No," he said simply, "all I came to do is apologise for the other day, and I end up finding you crying,"

"I'm not crying," she retorted hotly.

"Oh really?" He said, raising an eyebrow as he crouched down and wiped away the salty tear which had escaped and was trickling down her face.

"I just… got dirt in my eye, now go away." She sniffed, turning her head away from him.

"May…" He began, crawling over and sitting next to her, his back leaning against the wall. "Just tell me what's up."

"And why the hell should I?! Why are you here for me now when you weren't back then?!" She cried angrily.

"Just… hear me out, okay?"

"No, that's not okay, why the hell should I listen to you when you never listen to me?!"

"But I'm listening to you now,"

"You weren't when my parents left and I needed you the most!" May growled, almost in tears again. "All you and Brianna did was laugh and make fun of me, knowing exactly where it hurt the most!"

"May! Just listen for a moment, please!"

"No!"

"Just… I'm so sorry, and I was stupid back then, and I'm stupid now. I know I hurt you and I don't know why I kept doing it, I was an idiot. Just, let me be here for you now, I realised that it was painful without you and I have no idea why I pushed you away, I guess I was just scared."

"You were scared?! How the hell do you think I felt?! My parents left me and then you and Brianna, two of my closest friends, made fun of me and bullied me because of it!"

Drew was silent for a long time. He just sat, emotions varying from anger to longing and depression playing around in his head. Before he could say anything else however, May shot up and left, he watched, eyes full of worry as she disappeared back into the building. The boy sighed, rubbing his face resignedly.

He had made a mistake back then, he hadn't meant to be mean to her, all he had meant to do was tease her about if for a while because that's what they did to each other all the time, it just happened to get out of hand and some sadistic part of his brain seemed to enjoy it…

He knew that it hurt her but at the time he couldn't care less; he'd decided that he didn't need her because he'd gained a new form of respect from everyone else; they practically worshipped him due to the fact that he was becoming an elite.

He now realised however that he was being completely stupid. He considered her one of his best friends, if not more than that. And he had lost her all because of his selfishness. Slowly, he got up and made his way into the building, deciding to head back to his and Paul's room for some sleep because frankly, he was exhausted.

As he opened the door, he was met with not only Paul's usual scowl, but also his other team mates. Ash grinned a toothy grin, he seemed to be almost jumping around, something was obviously exciting him.

"What?" Drew asked irritably, wanting to do nothing but sleep.

"I finally found out the reason Misty wasn't speaking to me properly for so long!" Ash practically yelled. The green haired boy sighed, remembering that Misty had all of a sudden become really cold towards the boy.

"And why is that?" He asked with a somewhat bored tone before noticing that maybe he could use the same method to make it up to May.

"Well, in all honesty I'd abandoned her for Serena," the raven haired boy replied, his expression turning grave. "I'd pretty much forgotten about her… But we talked a lot today, and I promised her that I'd make it up to her!" He said a little more brightly.

"Oh, I see," Drew muttered, feeling slightly disappointed over the fact that he couldn't use that same technique with May.

"And," Ash began, "I managed to convince the higher ups to allow us all, with the girls' team, to go out on Sunday!" He said, grinning from ear to ear.

"You mean… out? No supervision?" Drew questioned with awe, wondering how in the world he was able to do that. He'd never heard of anyone being allowed out for non mission purposes; it'd be a first for him, and also the others too.

The boy in question nodded his head vigorously, a self-righteous smile spanning from ear to ear glued to his face.

"So, how did you do it?" Paul asked. The only reason he had, however, was that something didn't sit right with him. They wouldn't have allowed them to go out unless it served a meaningful purpose, but what could it be?

"Well, other than my charm and brains, I do have my ways…" Ash said slyly, tapping the bridge of his nose. Gary's hand then sailed through the air and thwacked him on the back of the head, causing the boy to wince.

"Quit pretending to be all high and mighty Ashy boy, you're the stupidest one here, I would really like to know this as well." He said while crossing his arms.

Ash simply stuck out his tongue and made a run for the door, Gary in hot pursuit. Paul then hastily got up and locked it, preventing the two from coming back in.

"Good idea," Drew chuckled, throwing his shirt off and climbing into bed. Paul grunted in response and did the same after switching the light off. The greenette smiled, he knew that Paul didn't talk a whole bunch yet he respected that, he, along with the other two guys and the girls had been his closest friends since they were young.

He was determined to somehow make their day out the day that May would forgive him, or at least make progress with her. They were going to have to be together the entire time after all.

 **There you have it, next chapter completed! This story is in need of waaay more feels (even though this** ** _was_** **a feelsy chapter), hence the reason they'll be going out :p Surprisingly enough, I actually have the reason they're able to go out worked out in my head (for once lol, and yeah, it ain't juuust the feels) so it ain't gonna be like that spontaneous exam thingy which I hope you'll be proud of me for ^-^**

 **~ X-Ray**


	10. Outside the gates

May and Leaf were extremely surprised to find Misty and Ash sitting together at their usual table. The two knew that Misty had felt abandoned by the boy and that she'd pretty much hated his guts until obviously now. To Dawn however, this was all news, as they walked up, Leaf had enlightened her on how Ash had technically left Misty for Serena.

The three sat at the table, throwing questioning looks at Misty.

"So, are you going to tell us what happened?" May asked the two, giving Ash a sceptical look, thinking that maybe Drew had set him up to this.

"Yeah, we worked it out yesterday," Misty explained to the other girls.

"Oh oh, and, we're all going out tomorrow!" Ash exclaimed, wriggling in his seat. Leaf gave him a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" She said, not quite understanding as she sat in the seat on his other side. She'd always felt like an older sister to the boy even though she was younger. She'd known him, along with Gary since she was very little. He was the one who had introduced her to both Misty and May.

"I managed to get the higher ups to allow us all to go out on our own; away from the facility for the day." The girls gave him dumbfounded looks.

"I don't believe you," May stated, crossing her arms.

"It's true," Misty confirmed. "We're all going out to a city which is apparently near here."

The other three were rendered speechless by her words. The same thing was going through all of their heads; no one has ever been allowed out before.

"How do they know I won't run away again?" Dawn asked quietly. Everyone turned to her, they were all silent for a moment.

"You won't though, will you?" May asked with a worried expression. Dawn looked away, deciding to ignore the question; so many thoughts were running though her head.

"Well, Paul, Drew and Gary are going, so you won't be able to!" Ash piped up brightly, oblivious to the mood.

"WHAT?!" All three girls shrieked.

I can't be around Drew ALL DAY!" May yelled, standing up fiercely in her chair. "I can't, I just can't!"

"Same with Gary and I!" Leaf growled, her hands clenching the table fiercely, a demon like aura surrounding her.

"Why the hell is prune head going?! He's a total mood killer and he'll ruin it for everyone!" Dawn whined childishly. Misty and Ash sweat dropped and glanced at one another almost worriedly.

"Listen." Misty snapped, "You are all going to this day out, whether you like it or now, I will not let you ruin it with your incompetence to get along with the others!" She gave them all a sharp look, only feeling satisfied when they all sat, tails between their legs and complied with her.

"If looks could kill…" Dawn muttered to herself silently.

May was sitting at the very back of the mini van next to the window, Dawn sitting next to her to ensure that Drew couldn't get near while Leaf sat on the other side of Dawn. Misty sat a row in front with Ash while the other guys were spaced out around the vehicle.

Their 'chaperone' was clad all in black with dark sun glasses on and they knew a variety or weapons were probably hidden under his jacket. No body was really talking and a sense of awkwardness hung in the air, Misty and Ash would exchange a few words every now and again but that was about it.

May was determined not to even so much as look in the direction of the greenette and just huffily stared out of the window. As they drove out of the vicinity of company, May realised how much their home seemed like a prison, tall iron gates surrounded the area and guards stood by the entrance, in charge of any passing vehicles.

Eventually, the car entered a large car park filled to the brim with thousands of cars. To Dawn, the sight was nothing new, but the others looked on in awe. A huge building; one which rivalled that of their facility, over looked the car park as people hurriedly filed in and out of the many sliding doors.

"Wow," Leaf muttered, her green eyes sparkling with the excitement of a four-year-old who had just entered the biggest toy shop in the world.

"This is just the outside guys," Dawn said, watching all of her friends in amusement. The driver parked in the taxi isle as the teenagers jumped out of the car. He then leaned out of the open window and handed Paul an envelope.

"Here, the cards all have a set amount of money on which corresponds to the amount of missions you've been on." the man said in a gruff voice. To Paul's surprise, the man in the car just up and left instead of coming out to keep an eye on them. He knew something was up, there had to be some logical explanation as to why the higher ups allowed them out, and he didn't like it.

"Okay!" Dawn said as she clapped her hands together enthusiastically, "This is gonna be so exciting!" She practically yelled, fist pumping the air eagerly as the busy shoppers around gave her weird looks.

She began to march right into the large building, her friends nervously trailing along behind her, except Paul of course who was as stoic as ever.

Once they'd entered, Dawn paused to look around; she turned to her friends excitedly and asked,

"So, what do you want to do first?" Everone else looked back at her with blank faces.

"We've never been here before idiot," Paul said, monotonously. Dawn then rounded on him, although it was obvious she was trying to keep her cool.

"Well _Mr. Shinji_ , I'm sorry for your ignorance." She practically hissed, resisting the urge to punch him in the gut. "Anyway!" She exclaimed, any trace of her anger a second ago completely gone. "I know what we should do first! Let's go clothes shopping!"

The rest of the group sweat dropped, however they all eagerly agreed, even the guys as they had yet to experience its 'joys'.

A few minutes later, the girls were all happily browsing through the many selections of clothing items in one of the shops that Dawn had recommended. They were all thoroughly enjoying their time here while the guys trailed around after them; feeling slightly bored as there was nothing for them to wear considering it was a women's store.

Dawn had grabbed Paul to come over to the shoe section with her; she didn't want to disturb the other girls who all appeared to be having a great time where they were. Considering she only had her pink boots and black sneakers (which were for missions) she'd decided that she could seize this opportunity to grab more shoes… Instead of having to steal some while on a mission; this was how the agents got new clothes if they needed them.

Paul resignedly followed the girl down the isles and watched as she filled her arms with different kinds of boots and flats. A pair of sandals caught his attention; he quickly grabbed them from the shelf and dumped them in Dawn's arms.

He watched in amusement as her face contorted in what seemed to be either horror or disgust, probably both.

"What the hell are those?!" She screeched, dropping the load she was carrying and gingerly picking up the pair of golden sandals which looked like something a 90 year old _man_ would wear. "If these are your definition of 'nice', then I think I'm gonna have to drag you into the 21st century Shinji!"

The addressed began to chuckle; this was the reaction he was after.

"Well, I thought that they'd suit you," He said, trying to keep a straight face as hers looked on in definite horror. She fiercely threw them at him, aiming for his face. He blocked and caught them in amusement as she stormed off down another isle. He laughed to himself and put them back, walking briskly to catch up; which didn't take him long considering she was so much shorter than him.

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Gary tried for the millionth time.

"Just give up already," Leaf sighed wearily.

"Oh c'mon Green, I swear to god, you're so hard to get and it's annoying me." He said in frustration.

"Yeah well, I don't really fancy dating an asshole player who's dated pretty much every chick in the facility."

"You're different though!"

"Oh yeah? I bet you've said that to pretty much everyone you've dated."

"Well…"

"See, I told you. I'm no different than the rest to you and I really don't fancy having my heart broken just cause' you wanna do revolting things to me." She said, her face morphing into a look of disgust. "Just make yourself useful and shut up," she said, placing the bundle of clothes she held in her arms in his and picking up something else.

Gary's eyebrows knitted together as he let out a frustrated sigh.

 _Why did I go off without Misty or May?!_ Leaf whined inside her head. She was tired of Gary trying to get with her; it was irritating to say the least. She seriously missed the inseparable best friend he used to be to her, but throughout the years he'd changed. Maybe if he was still that same sweet boy he used to be, despite the bigheadedness, she'd accept him. However, if he was going to flirt around with every girl he laid his eyes on, there was no way Leaf would stand for it.

May, unlike Leaf and Dawn, refused to leave Misty's side. She refused to go anywhere alone with Drew, and didn't want to take Ash away from her friend as they had only just made up and she knew how important he was to her.

"Hey May, let's go check that out!" Drew said, pointing in the direction of an isle filled with dresses.

"No," she said simply, linking arms with Misty in case he made any attempt to drag her over. The boy glared huffily at the floor, shoving his hands moodily into his pockets. _Why won't she just let me apologise?!_ He growled to himself.

A few minutes later, the group rounded a corner and found both Dawn and Paul. Dawn waved ran over to them, Paul trailing behind.

"Check out what I'm getting!" She exclaimed, pulling out three pairs of sneaker boots, one pair black, one light blue and the other pink in colour.

"They're cool!" May exclaimed, highfiving her friend.

"I know right!" Dawn replied excitedly. "I would have gotten more, but apparently we only have a certain amount of money to spend each, and it depends on how many missions we've been on," She said sadly, hugging her boots lovingly to her chest.

Leaf and Gary soon found the others and so Paul opened the envelope with all of the cards in, giving each person their own.

"WHAT?!" Dawn shrieked after a few seconds. "I only have 90 dollars on mine!" She said, pointing accusingly at the '$90' which had been scrawled in black pen on the back of her card.

"Well, the amount we have was determined by the amount of missions you've been on," Paul muttered.

"So basically you're lucky to get that Dawn," Misty chuckled causing the girl to groan.

"But these cost 80 altogether… so I'm not gonna have much left after this," She moaned, feeling very sorry for herself indeed.

"Well, I have 1000 on mine," May said happily.

"Same," both Misty and Leaf chorused together. Ash, Gary and drew all had around 2000 – 3000.

"So, how much do you have Paul?" Dawn asked curiously, trying to peer over at the back to his card.

"6000…" He replied.

"WHAT?!" Everyone cried together.

"How many missions have you been on man?!" Gary exclaimed.

"That's soo not fair!" Dawn whined. "I doubt you're even gonna spend it all, I should have-"

"Listen, if you shut up you can use some of my money," Paul sighed, looking down at the bluenette. She blinked a few times before asking,

"Wait what?"

"I said, you can use some of my money if it shuts you up troublesome," he growled.

"Thank you!" Dawn giggled happily, before scowling. "And… It's DAWN!" A few raised eyebrows were exchanged between the other teens before they all made their way to the checkout to pay for their things.

Dawn was once again their guide as they made their way through the bustling building. The bluenette stopped out side of a small jewellery store as the others followed close behind. The girls were, once again, thrilled with the store that Dawn had chosen, the guys, not so much.

"Ah, this is so cute!" Leaf exclaimed, picking up a tiny, diamond encrusted golden rabbit brooch.

"Just like you," Garry said casually, coming up behind the girl. Leaf rolled her eyes and put it back down.

"And you just put me off it creep," she said huffily, stomping off in another direction to get away from the Brunette.

May sighed wistfully as she stared at a beautiful sapphire pendant. The sapphire was in the shape of a small teardrop, a small diamond was attached to it, keeping it from falling off of the silver chain they were both held up with.

The girl would have purchased it, had it not been for the price. It was exactly 1000 dollars and she had spent about 100 at the previous store they were at. She felt that it wasn't really fair to ask anyone else for it, no matter how much she wanted it.

Sadly, she gave it one last longing glance and walked over to look at something else. Drew however, had see it all, he smirked ever so slightly and picked up the necklace, taking it over to the checkout and then hiding the packaging in one of his pockets.

"I hope this works…" He muttered to himself.

After looking through a few more shops, everyone, especially Ash and May, was rather hungry as it was past lunch time now. They all made their way towards the large food court which was placed in the centre of the precinct.

"So, are you all having fun?!" Dawn asked enthusiastically once everyone had gotten their food and settled down at a table.

"I've been having loads of fun!" May giggled between mouthfuls of a pork sandwich. Leaf and Misty nodded vigorously in agreement.

"It was fun seeing Misty in all them dresses, she looked really pretty!" Ash exclaimed innocently, a goofy grin spreading across his face. Misty flushed a bright red and slid down her chair.

"Idiot…" She muttered as the other three girls squealed with delight and the guys smirked at one another.

"Didn't know you had it in ya Ashy boy," Gary snickered, punching the raven haired boy playfully in the arm.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked obliviously, causing everyone, besides Misty who was still recovering, to laugh.

"Anyway, where are we going next?" Leaf asked when the laughter had died down.

"Well," Dawn began, "I was thinking we could go to somewhere the guys would like, and don't worry, it isn't shopping. Oh, and you girls will like it too, I'm sure!" She added.

After receiving approving looks from the rest of the group, Dawn stood up and beckoned for them to follow. They soon arrived outside a very large store which looked like it was filled with hundreds of strange machines.

"It's called an arcade," Dawn explained, "You guys go ahead, we've gotta do something real quick," Dawn said, grabbing Paul's hand and dragging him off in another direction. The others gave her puzzled looks before shrugging and entering the large room.

"What are we doing?" Paul questioned with a bored tone, not bothering to remove his hand from hers. They'd stopped outside a men's clothing store.

"Well, you're always wearing this!" She exclaimed, pulling his purple hoodie and black shirt, her face scrunched up in disgust.

"It's not like I don't wash them," He said, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah…" She dragged on. "But it's the same damn thing pretty much all the time!" His response was a mere grunt, as per usual. Dawn sighed and continued to drag him into the store.

The bluenette squealed and pulled out a hoodie with a grey body, black sleaves and a black hood.

"This one will look nice!" She exclaimed, chucking it towards the man. She then continued down another isle which was filled with shirts. She picked out a white tank and then continued down yet another isle.

Paul sighed but continued to follow the crazy girl on her frenzied journey through the store. She'd occasionally throw random clothing items in his direction, expecting him to catch them, to which of course, he did.

After a good fifteen minutes or so, she finally came to a stop outside the changing rooms.

"Put some of them on," Dawn instructed, putting her hands on her hips as if to try and be intimidating. Reluctantly, Paul complied and entered one of the small cubicles.

"Hey, what's your name?" Dawn was just standing, waiting for Paul and listening to the mindless chatter of the people around her.

"Oi! I'm talking to you miss," a few seconds later, Dawn jumped as a hand grabbed hold of her shoulder.

"Hey, if you don't answer, I'm gonna have to fine ya!" A moderately tall, well built blonde said.

"Um…" Dawn said as she warily shook off his hand. "What's your name… first." The boy hesitated before answering;

"Pearl… And he's Diamond," he said, indicating to a smaller, shyer looking boy with dark hair and dark eyes. "So, what's your name then?"

"Umm, Platinum…" She answered cautiously. Pearl's amber eyes flashed for an instant; however he covered up his obvious doubt with a smile.

"So… are you here with anyone, _Platinum_?"

"Yeah, I'm with my…" She paused for a moment, a frown crossing her face before she continued. "My friend,"

"Well, would you like to come around with us?" Diamond piped up, a faint blush grazing his cheeks. Pearl gave his friend a look that Dawn couldn't fully decipher, she was on full guard now; she didn't trust these guys. "I mean, you looked kinda lost, and um, I uh, we could show you around,"

Dawn gave them a forced smile and shook her head,

"No, it's okay, like I said before, I'm with my friend and I know my way around."

"It'll be fun Platinum!" Pearl said giving her a toothy grin, however as he did, Diamond came up and grabbed her wrist.

"I insist!" He said. Dawn was about to forcefully pull away when she felt someone towering above her.

"Let go." A deep voice said as Dawn felt someone place a hand protectively on her shoulder. A wave of relief crashed over her, she could have probably taken them on her own but she felt much safer with Paul there.

Her wrist was released and Diamond shrank back down, however, Pearls eyes seemed to sparkle with either joy or excitement, she wasn't sure; possibly both... which she found very odd.

"Get away from here pathetic idiots," Paul growled, stepping in front of her. Something about the blonde unnerved him ever so slightly, he looked familiar, but there was no way he'd seen him ever before as he'd never left the facility except on missions until now.

The two backed away and headed for the exit, Dawn came to stand beside Paul and watch them leave, she was about to thank him when she faintly heard Pearl say something that sent chills down her spine.

"Paul's so cool!" She looked up at Paul who appeared to have not heard and decided against telling him, they were probably never going to see them again so it didn't really matter She could have after all accidentally told them his name, although she didn't remember doing so.

"So," The man beside her began, "What about these?" He was wearing a black beanie, the hoodie that she had pulled out first, brown jeans and black converses. A red hue seemed to crawl across Dawns cheeks and she simply nodded.

"I'll take that as a, yes, you look so hot in that Paul," he said, the smirk evident on his face.

"N- NO!" Dawn yelled, giving him a very hard punch in the arm, to which he didn't even so much a flinch.

"Oh… so I should go and put them all back then?" He asked innocently, causing Dawn's anger to grow.

"No! Don't you dare!" Paul smirked again. "I- I mean, UGH quit playing with my head Shinji! Hurry up and pay for em' I'm going to wait outside," and with that she left him laughing to himself.

A few minutes later, Paul came out of the shop carrying a fancy looking bag.

"You know, you _could_ have kept them on…" She said moodily.

"Oh, I _should_ have should I?" He said, an eyebrow rising, as he leaned down, bringing his face inches from hers, a large smirk printed on his face.

"H- hey!" Dawn stuttered, her face turning the colour of a tomato. Paul let his head linger for a few more seconds before he stood back up and laughed, not a spiteful laugh, but a real one, as he began to walk back towards the arcade.

Dawn smiled to herself and watched the man for a few seconds before running to catch up with him. The next few minutes passed in a comfortable silence.

"H-hey Paul?" Dawn asked hesitantly, looking up at him. After receiving no reply, she continued anyway, looking down at the ground in both thought and shyness.

"Are we friends?" The question seemed to take the addressed by surprise as a series of expressions fell across his face before it settled back to that unemotional mask he wore so very well.

"I don't have friends," he stated, shoving his hands in his pockets and continuing to stare forward. Dawn looked puzzled, a frown creasing her face.

"What?"

"Are you deaf? I said I don't have any you troublesome girl,"

"But… what about Ash, Drew, Gary and the girls?" She questioned, her frown deepening. Paul let out an irritated sigh and scowled down at the ground.

"The only thing which comes out of caring for anyone, is pain," he said finally after contemplating over his words for a few seconds. "The guys are merely part of my team and the girls hang around them."

Dawn was silent; she decided not to press the matter and regretted ever asking. He seemed to be enjoying himself before and she'd ruined it.

After spending a few more hours in the arcade, someone had eventually contacted Paul and they met their 'taxi' driver in the same place he left them. They headed back to the facility, all savouring their last few minutes of freedom as they doubted that they'd be able to go out ever again.

 **Damn that was a long chapter! (Took me ages to write T^T) I hope you're all happy with it! And *Le squee* The feels! Seeeee told ya that this was gonna be a feelsy chapter :P I'm so sorry if Paul seemed OOC, although it does give some insight to what he's like without the mask. Now I've just gotta figure the next chapter out. T_T I swear I just need to make myself a plan for each and every chapter cause it'd be so much easier, it's just… EFFORT xD**

 **And yeah, about that 'Maybe 1 per week thing' I don't think it'll be able to happen until after Christmas, I kinda got myself caught up in another project so I thought I'd give you a pretty long chapter this time. Anyway, the project's an ikarishipping 12 days before Christmas kinda thing hehe. Plus I think I'm currently majorly suffering from sleep deprivation (although that's not really new lol) cause I've been spending until the wee hours of the morning writing for that fic ._. I plan on sleeping early today before I well and truly pass out xD.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoyed my wonderful readers!**

 **~X-Ray**


	11. Curiosity Killed The Cat

"You know May; everyone _does_ deserve a second chance…" Misty tried to reason to the stubborn brunette.

"Well he doesn't," she retorted hotly, sitting cross legged on her bed and glaring at the three girls opposing her.

"Why not?! He made a mistake and he wants to apologise," Leaf chimed in. "I mean; there really is no harm in listening to what he has to say right?"

May let out a frustrated sigh and flopped onto her back.

"You guys are supposed to be on my side…" she groaned. "He was an asshole and I'm not the forgiving type. The end. That's all there is to it."

"Ash said that Drew's been acting all weird lately, and I'll bet it's because of you," Misty explained, "All you have to do is listen to him for at least five minutes, how bad could that be?!"

"Very bad!"

"Oh come on May!" Dawn coaxed, "you won't have to do it ever again if you just listen to him once!"

May sighed in exasperation, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Fine…" she dragged on, "Only because you'll probably never stop bugging me until I do though, and there's no guarantee that I'll cooperate with him."

"That's the spirit!" Dawn yelled enthusiastically while the other two simply smiled at their friend.

* * *

May leaned against a tree, keeping in its dark shadow and hoping that maybe Drew had forgotten about their stupid little meet up. She ran her fingers through her raw umber coloured hair and sighed a long, tired sigh.

"Yo," a voice called from her left. She turned to see Dew standing near her, his hands stuffed into his pockets, a small, genuine smile on his face.

"Five minutes," May growled, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring up at the green haired boy. He sighed and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Jeez, you don't really need to be so feisty about-"

"Five. Minutes." May interrupted through clenched teeth. Drew sighed and flicked his bangs out of his eyes.

"Listen, May. I understand I was a complete jerk and I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

"… Wow. Did you honestly think that you were going to win me over with that?!" She jeered. Drew let out a dry chuckle.

"No, not really, it was worth a shot though. Now please, just listen to and believe me because I swear, what I'm saying is the truth!"

"4 minutes,"

"Gah, just let me speak!" Drew snapped, losing his patients.

"Spit it out then, Drew!" May retorted, her eyes narrowed.

"Fine then, I know I was a complete idiot and I'm so, so sorry May. I knew at the time I was hurting you but I kept doing it, over and over again. I guess you could say I was getting some kind of sick 'enjoyment' out of it… It was disgusting."

"So you actually _did_ enjoy teasing me then?!"

"Wait, no! That came out wrong!" He stuttered quickly, eyes widening at the realisation of his previous words. "What I meant was, I enjoyed the attention I got from it."

"So you admit that you were a self centred prick?"

"Yes…"

"Good. Now we have that all cleared up, I'll be going." May said as she walked a few paces away from the boy.

"Oi! I had five minutes remember!" He said desperately. May sighed and turned back to face him,

"Two left."

"R-right, well, I mean, sure, it may have seemed like I was enjoying it, I really wasn't. I didn't like hurting you, okay? Brianna encouraging me to do it, and I couldn't help it." May's hand then sailed through the air, a loud slapping sound echoed around them and the greenette brought a hand to his now pink cheek.

"Drew…" May snarled, her eyes flashing in anger. "Don't you even _dare_ bring _her_ into this! She is _not_ the reason for your idiocy; you were at fault, okay?!"

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his eyes cast down to the ground. "I'm so, so sorry." The two stood in silence for a few seconds before May began to walk away again.

"Wait!" Drew called, lunging for her wrist and forcing her to turn back and face him."

"What?" She muttered, her glare still refusing to falter.

"Just, answer one question for me… Why won't you forgive me?" May was silent for a long while, her cold persona faltering as her eyes seemed sad and she attempted to look everywhere but at Drew. "Why?"

"Because… I don't want to be hurt again." She eventually replied, her wide, sapphire eyes looking up at him sadly.

"May…" he mumbled, slowly backing away from her. As she turned away once more, she heard a loud thump. Her eyes widened and she turned back around to see Drew on his knees.

"May… I'm so sorry I didn't mean it! I didn't realise how much I was hurting you, I'm so, so stupid. I didn't realise…" He rambled, his head lowered to the ground.

"D- Drew… please, get up!" May said, looking around unknowing of what to do. The 'great' Drew Hayden never begged, even in a situation such as this.

"I can't, I hurt you so, so much. And in doing so I was hurting myself, I'm such and idiot!" He let out a humourless laugh as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, I suppose I understand the saying 'you don't know what you've got till' it's gone' now huh?"

"Drew…" May sighed, her fists clenched as she tried to prevent her tears from falling. _What is this? Why is it that I'm suddenly feeling guilty…_

"May. I still consider you my best friend; I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry for pushing you away, I just couldn't see through all of my arrogance, I thought I was fine without you and I didn't need you at all because I had so many others. I realised that you were the only one for me, I don't expect you to forgive me, I'm a stupid idiot, and as Paul would say, completely pathetic right now," He moaned, turning his head away, his eyes being covered by the bangs which he'd usually be flicking around about now.

He felt weak and pathetic, he didn't want her to see him like this, he thought that she'd just laugh at his vulnerability over her; he didn't deserve her after all. Suddenly, he felt small, warm arms wrap tentatively around his neck.

His green orbs snapped open and he stared into her blue ones, her actions surprised him greatly.

"I'm sorry," He whispered again, letting his head fall onto her chest. She sighed in exhaustion, her mind trying its best to collect her thoughts in an orderly fashion.

"Drew, I… I suppose I may be able to forgive you…" She muttered almost inaudibly. This sentence caused the boy's emerald eyes to widen a great deal, he pulled away again, at a complete loss for words.

"What?!"

"I said, I may be able to forgive you, Grass head," she repeated, poking her tongue childishly out at him.

"Shut up, I heard you the first time, air head," he said, a grin widening on his face. "Oh, and before I forget," he said before pulling the sapphire encrusted pendent which he had bought the other day out of his pocket. He lifted it up and allowed the girl to take it.

"Drew, you knew I wanted it?" She asked, her eyes wide with awe.

"Duh," he replied, smirking in triumph.

"I can't take this, it's far too expensive!"

"Well too bad, it isn't really any use for me, and it'd be a shame to throw it out because for one, it was so expensive and two, it's really pretty. Besides, I don't have anyone else to give it to, you just happen to be the only girl around at the moment." He smirked, flicking his bangs. His big ego had obviously just been repaired.

May rolled her eyes and gently took the necklace, clasping it around her neck.

"Keep dreaming, I may be _your_ 'bestie' right now, but you're far off from becoming mine. I barely even know you anymore." She said, standing back up and grinning in success as it was obvious she'd just wounded his newly rebuild ego due to his physical wince.

As she began walking back to her dorm, she heard him yell after her,

"You won't be saying that much longer March!"

"And maybe you'll also finally realise how much I truly care about you as well," he muttered to himself, following the path of the girl. "However, I doubt anyone as dense as you could really tell," he chuckled bitterly.

* * *

Weeks passed and the two groups began to spend more time together, just like they used to. This was however much to the displeasure of both Dawn and Leaf due to the fact that they had to deal with either a completely emotionless being or a self centred prick.

Dawn, no matter how hard she tried, could not seem to get past that emotionless mask which Paul had repaired and put back on after their time in the city. It frustrated her to no end because she knew that the funny, teasing and almost kind person was hiding once again and she wanted to see him.

The exam that she knew next to nothing about was looming ever closer, the younger children seemed very on edge as they knew that their demise could be coming a lot closer than they anticipated.

The facility seemed thick with tension; no body spoke much during meal times and the juniors were all preparing during their free times.

"Dawn," Paul called, spying the mass of blue hair bobbing down the hallway. The girl stopped and looked towards the source of the voice, dodging around the few students mulling around to get to the purple haired teen.

"What is it?" She asked curiously, her eyebrows quirked slightly in amusement as it was very rare that Paul would ever stop to talk to her.

"I was informed about what you'll be doing for the exam," he said in his usual monotone. As the words left his lips, the colour drained from the poor bluenette's face.

"W-what?! You can't be serious, I can't do the exam! Sure I may have run away… and yeah… my loyalty too the company sure hasn't been as good as it could have been, but I'm too young to die! I'm a senior, I should be able to get out of it, I mean-"

"Dawn!" He growled, halting the hysterical rambling of the panicked girl before him. "You aren't doing it, okay?!" The girl blinked a few times, processing the information.

"Wha- why?" She asked, completely dumbfounded. Paul just rolled his eyes and pushed passed her, heading towards his next class. He didn't quite understand either; he really didn't think that Giovanni would allow her to stay without taking the exam without there being any deeper reasoning behind him doing so, and he had a feeling it may have been due to that book.

Dawn shook her head, a wide grin making its way onto her face. She continued towards her Self defence class with Zoey and Lieutenant Surge.

"Hey Dawn?" Zoey asked as the bluenette entered the large training room.

"What?" she responded, tilting her head slightly. Zoey seemed to hesitate for a moment, her cheeks grew somewhat the colour of red and she looked down, seeming excessively interested in a crack in the flooring.

"Well… I was wondering… What's your relationship with Kenny?" Dawn looked at the girl for a good couple of seconds without responding. She recalled their first encounter as a three, (which was one of a few), Zoey had seemed to want to remove herself from the scene as quickly as possible.

"Well… We've been best friends for as long as I can remember," Dawn eventually replied, trying to hide the amusement in her voice. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason really, I was just curious,"

"Oh really?" Dawn smirked, "Don't worry my friend, nothing is gonna be going on between us, I can almost guarantee, it'd be too weird," she chucked, watching the relief flush over Zoey like a tsunami. "There's no need to worry my friend, you have no competition here,"

"H-hey, that's not why I was asking!" Zoey said, seeming to get rather flustered which inturn made Dawn laugh even harder. "S-shut up!"

"Oi, Berlitz, Nozomi, shut up and get to work, you're supposed to be training to be world class assassins! Not hosting your own talk show!"

"Sorry sir," both girls replied, rather sheepishly mind you, in unison, Dawn giving Zoey 'the look' during the entirety of the session.

* * *

 **DAWN POV**

I jogged through the corridors which lead down towards the reception where I'd find my mother. The place seemed even more deserted than usual; I suppose the reason being was that the entrance exam was nearing. May was spending a hell of a lot of time with her brother, and honestly, I didn't blame her.

I myself was just relieved that I wouldn't need to take it, god knows if I'd have passed or not, I didn't even know what it was about anyway. The shopping tip we'd all been on seemed like it'd happened forever ago, we weren't allowed to mention it in case someone happened to overhear our conversation.

Those boys still gave me the creeps, I was sure I never even once mentioned Paul's name, yet the Blondie, Pearl I believe, knew it anyway.

My eyes widened and I started to rub them, I was sure I was seeing things. A blonde boy with amber eyes was walking in my direction, followed by a smaller, dark haired and dark eyed boy. The blonde one stopped when he saw me, _his_ eyes also widening.

He turned hurriedly around, shoving his friend with him and they began to speed down the corridor. I stood dumbfounded for a few seconds before I too began to sprint. I was so confused, none of this made sense.

I began closing in on them, maybe all of those laps around the gym Paul made me do did really pay off.

"Hey!" I yelled, reaching out, ready to grab 'Pearl's' shirt. I yanked exceptionally hard on the back of his collar, causing him to make out a strangled yell. 'Diamond' whirled around, his eyes seemed to be filled with fright. "What the hell is going on?!" I demanded, turning the blonde around to face me.

"O-oh, hey, do I know you?" Pearl asked, not so convincingly. I raised an eyebrow, tightening the grip on his shirt.

"What's going on?!" I yelled desperately, trying to force out an answer.

"What do you mean?" He asked innocently enough.

"Quit playing games with me, just spill,"

"I um…"

"We were sent by Giovanni himself to watch you, Dawn, and Paul," Diamond sighed, causing my hold to falter. Pearl managed to get free and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry about that, the big boss's orders, we couldn't disobey. Anyway, why don't we start over? I'm Barry," He said, holding out his hand.

I warily took it, he seemed legitimately friendly enough. Despite this however, I was still very creeped out over the fact that Giovanni had gotten them to watch specifically Paul and I. Something weird was definitely going on.

"I'm Lucas," the other boy said, also taking my hand.

"Dawn," I said, "Although I suppose you already know that," I added.

"Heh, sorry," Barry said sheepishly, "But anyways, we have to go, we have class,"

I nodded in understanding.

"Good luck," I chuckled, "I'll see you around I guess,"

They both nodded and headed off in the direction I'd come from as I continued towards the reception.

* * *

Due to the layout of the facility, before arriving at the reception, you had to pass though a corridor which lead to the labs.

I stopped just outside, my head turning towards the door leading into the entrance of them. For some strange reason, I felt compelled to try the door handle. To my surprise, it was opened and some strange force seemed to make me enter the room. I looked around, quick to duck under a desk near the door as I spied a scientist on the other side of the rather large room. Doors lined the walls of this laboratory, obviously leading to different ones due to the various signs nailed to them.

One of the doors had a sign which looked like that of our company, the only difference being that it was red, white and black in colour, unlike the usual plain coloured ones we used to identify our clothing items and the logos used on the manufactured weapons.

I slowly began to walk towards the door so as not to notify the person with his back to me of my presents. The door was identical to the others in the room; obviously made with some type of steel while is seemed to be locked using a key pad. Just as I was about to insert some random code, the door began to open, causing me to panic.

Professor Oak walked in from what looked like a completely steel corridor with yet another door at the end, I guessed it was for security measures. The Professor himself looked awfully tired, his hair was more dishevelled than usual and dark circles hung under his eyes.

Once he saw me, he jumped out of his skin, dropping the clip board and various items he held in his arms. In alarm, he began collecting what looked like photographs and obscuring them from my vision. I began to help him pick up his assortment of items, and instead of thanking me, he began to shove me towards the exit, warily glancing at the scientist who obviously hadn't cared to look over even at the large amount of noise created by the dropping items.

"Hurry up and get out of here Miss Berlitz, if anyone finds you… Just hurry and leave, don't come back!" He exclaimed, locking the door shut behind him after we'd exited the room. He then hurried down the other corridor, leaving me completely and utterly confused.

My curiosity had spiked; whatever they were hiding behind that door was very precious to them.

 _Dawn, I need you. Do it again._

That voice rang throughout my head. My eyes widened and my hands automatically clamped over my temples.

"Paul…" I muttered to myself, "I need to find Paul," and I began to sprint back the way I came. I knew something wasn't right, and I had a feeling it had to do with whatever was behind that door, I had an extremely bad feeling about it as well and I wanted answers.

* * *

I slowed down as his and Drew's room came into view, my breathing was very irregular but I didn't have time to catch my breath. I knocked hurriedly on the door, to which I got no reply. Growling, I swiftly made my way to a room a few doors down and knocked on this one.

"If you're a hot girl and are here for me, please leave, I'm not in the mood," Gary's voice yelled from the other side.

"For once…" Ash's tone, muffled from the door said. At this point I'm guessing Gary had thrown something at the poor boy as I hear a thump followed by a loud groan.

"It's me you idiots," I called, trying to suppress a chuckle.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Gary asked as the door swung open. "What brings you here Blue?" He asked curiously.

"Well, I was just wondering if you guys know where Paul would be right about now," I said, leaning back on my heels.

"Well, right about now, I'm pretty sure he'd be in self defence class, probably in the training room," Gary replied, resting his arm on the door frame.

"Right, thanks guys," I said, holding my hand up in farewell as I began to sprint in the direction of Paul. Gary shook his head, closing the door again.

"Bet you were wishing it was Leaf," Ash said slyly, only letting out another groan as yet a second large pillow flew through the air and whacked him in the face.

* * *

I eventually got to the desired room, casually looking through the window to indeed find Paul sparring with a girl who looked around his age. My eyes widened in surprise as I realised there were only four of them in the class, less then I had in mine.

The realisation of why soon hit me and my face scrunched up in disgust; people sometimes die on the missions they're assigned. The main reason for there being far less seniors was because a lot of them had passed away.

Their teacher seemed nice enough, a mane of aqua blue hair adorned his head and he seemed very enthusiastic, despite the fact that I'd only seen him for a few seconds. Orange goggles covered his eyes as he was mercilessly beating a punching bag. I somehow needed to gain Paul's attention without anyone else's… it was pretty impossible.

I began to jump up and down, waving my hands about like a mad man in an attempt to get him to notice me, I couldn't wait until his class finished, it was urgent. The girl he was sparring was the first to notice me, she gave me a weird look and I pointed desperately to the man opposite her.

Her eyebrows shot up, most likely wondering what the hell anyone, let alone a girl three years younger than them, would want with the likes of Paul Shinji. She still raised her hands up, stopping the match between them and pointed over at me.

Paul glared, this was the reaction I was expecting yet I sill winced. He yelled something at his teacher and then began to walk towards the door. I took a step back, allowing him to exit.

"What?" He growled, shutting the door behind him.

"I need to talk to you…" I began, not knowing exactly where to start. I glanced around, feeling unsafe about being out in the open and so I lead him into an empty classroom.

"I've been… hearing this voice," I started, taking a deep breath, "And, it sounds like my Father, but he's dead…" Paul watched me closely, I couldn't tell what he was thinking, and that was the annoying part of it all.

When he didn't say anything, I continued.

"I think, it has something to do with a certain lab,"

"What do you mean?" He asked,

"Well, I don't know what made me do it, but something weird happened, and I just felt like I really needed to go into the room and-"

"You went into the labs?!" He snapped, his voice raising every so slightly.

"I didn't mean to! I just, I don't know what it was I swear! I just felt like I really needed to go in! Professor Oak saw me though.."

"Someone saw you?!" He roared, towering over me, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"H-he only warned me never to go back again…" I stuttered, shrinking back, beginning to regret my decision to tell him.

"Thank god it was professor Oak… what if it was someone else?! You could be dead now you stupid girl! Stop getting yourself into things that don't concern you!"

"Why do you care anyway?!" I snarled, finally snapping. "I'm old enough and smart enough to look after myself! I don't need you to be watching over and judging everything I do!"

"Snooping around this place is a very dangerous thing to do troublesome; it will most likely get you killed! They don't like curiosity in this place; those doors are usually locked for a reason!"

"Well if you're so smart, why don't you tell me what's behind them then! And would you quit calling me that! I am NOT troublesome!"

"You're the very definition of troublesome, troublesome. My life would be so much easier if you just left everything be, curiosity killed the cat."

"I am not! Why don't you just let me get killed then?! Why the hell are you always there to stop everything I do anyway?! Now this I want to know," I spat, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring up at him.

He sighed, lowering himself onto one of the desks behind him.

"Because, Dawn, I promised my brother that when you returned, I'd do anything and everything I could to protect you."

"Your brother? Why did he want me safe, and who is he?!"

"His name was Reggie Shinji, he was your father's apprentice. I don't know exactly what happened to your father, but what they told you, about how he died on a mission, that much is incorrect."

"What?" I asked, my eyes widening.

"His last request to my brother was that he'd make sure you were safe, always. And so, when you left, it pretty much killed him. He spent years looking for you, feeling that he was a failure of a student. He spent most of his time in the lab, being both a scientist and a field agent, trying to work out your next location or if you were still safe. I didn't know much about what he was doing as he never told me, he didn't have time for me anymore," Paul said, he sounded so sad, I just listened, my mouth hanging open, I'd been causing him so much pain…

"He'd apparently been secretly working against the company, trying to get it shut down. He knew the goal they were aiming for, even I don't know this much even now. The first time I found this out was the last time I ever saw him. Before he was killed by the company, he made me promise that I would find you look after you and fulfil the task he'd been assigned but failed to complete."

"Wait, what happened to my dad then?!" I said, my voice straining.

"He was used in an experiment," Paul answered, his voice once more lacking in any noticeable emotion.

"What…"

"I told you Dawn, don't go down to them laboratories, something strange is going on but until we know exactly what, we can't do anything. I'm guessing that the voice you keep hearing is due to that experiment they conducted five years ago, the year he died, one year before you left."

"But… if that's the case, he could still be alive!" I pretty much yelled, my eyes lighting up.

"… Maybe, however my brother knew what was going on, and he was certain Mr. Berlitz was dead." He answered monotonously. The hope that had swollen up diminished almost immediately and I looked down, trying to prevent any tears from falling.

"But why didn't he tell me any of this, and why did the company not tell Mum and I the truth?"

"I'm not quite sure… it could have been to stop you from rebelling." He says slowly.

I sighed, lowering myself onto one of the desks. I go over everything that I'd learnt within the last ten minutes, holding my face in my hands.

"I'm sorry," I eventually whisper.

"What?" Paul replied; I could hear the confusion in his tone of voice.

"I'm sorry for all of the pain I caused you. It's my fault that your brother left you in search of me… I'm so, so sorry." With that, I slowly got back to my feet, allowing my bangs to cover my eyes as I made my way over to the man opposite me in an almost zombie like fashion.

I then leaned in, wrapping my small arms around his torso and resting my head onto his chest. The plumb haired man stiffened, I could feel his obsidian eyes on my top of my head, most likely glaring, however, he soon relaxed and gingerly wrapped his hoodie clad arms around my back.

We stood like that for only a short amount of time, due to the fact that he'd pushed me away within a few seconds. Despite this, I found comfort in that small embrace, like a warmth spreading throughout my body.

"I know you said that you don't have friends before, but I consider you a very close one of mine," I said, a small smile making its way onto my lips.

"Hn," was his only reply, however before he turned away to head back to class, I noticed a smile, not a big, noticeable one, but a genuine one illuminate his face. His onyx eyes seemed to sparkle for just a second, but this reaction was enough to make my heart skip a beat as a thousand butterflies seemingly fluttered around inside of my stomach. I had no idea why.

* * *

 **Normal POV**

Meanwhile, May held onto her younger brother tightly, refusing to let go. They were currently sitting alone together in May and Dawn's room.

"I can't… breathe… can you let go?!" He wheezed, struggling to free himself from the brunette's fierce grasp. May simply shook her head and buried her face into his inky hair. "Are you crying?" He asked after a while, realising that his sister's shoulders were shaking in a kind of rhythm as his head began to feel slightly damp.

"No…" she said unconvincingly. Max sighed and managed to pull away, he held May out at arms length yet refused to look her in the eye. "I'm not going to die, I couldn't leave you like that," He said, trying to prevent his own tears from shedding.

"Yeah, I know you aren't, you're too cocky and smart to die," she replied, allowing herself to smile through her tears. "I'm sorry, I just can't help it. I shouldn't be the one crying, I need to be strong!"

She roughly began to wipe her face with the back of her hand.

"Besides, I'll force Drew to look after you if I do, and if he treats you badly again, my ghost will come back and haunt him," the boy grinned, rubbing his hands together evilly.

A faint blush grazed the cheeks of the girl; she glared daggers at her brother and leaped, pinning him to the ground as she tickled him mercilessly. The boy squirmed under his sister's hold, his face beginning to go red from laughter and his glasses sitting crooked upon his nose.

"M-may, quit it!" He managed to gasp between the laughs. Just as he said that, a certain greenette entered the room uninvited, he looked upon the scene before him, his eyebrows quirked in amusement.

"Now that's not fair May, ganging up on your younger brother like that," He said in mock disgust.

"Help me Drew!" Max yelled as May stopped her mass tickling and looked over to the new comer.

"With pleasure," the addressed said with a bow before advancing on the girl. May stood her ground, keeping the younger boy pinned down while wearily watching the new coming threat.

He stalked closer and closer, trying to figure out a way to free the struggling Max. May lashed out, one of her feet flailing about to try and strike the greenette. He gave her one of his signature smirks and grabbed a hold of her foot.

She comically hissed and immediately tried to free herself, the only way she saw possible was to release Max and twist around quickly. She did just that and as planned, Drew lost his grip, allowing her to scamper away, retreating to the other side of the room.

The two boys began to advance on the girl, each one giving her an evil look. As they came closer, May leaped, managing to cut through in between them.

"Haha," she taunted, ducking behind the sofa and planning her next attack. She'd have to disable Drew first then get to Max. Peaking out behind the armrest, she caught a glimpse of a tuft of green ducking behind the other side of the piece of furniture. Quietly, she began to crawl around the side they were sitting, getting ready to leap.

"Oof," Drew groaned as he hit the floor, the brunette straddling his waste while pinning his arms to the ground. Drew being Drew never missed a beat; he smirked up at the girl,

"Gosh May, if you wanted me this bad, you could have just asked," he whispered, causing her face to turn a bright red. He chucked for a moment just before groaning yet again as May was suddenly forced forward, smashing into his chest.

Max laughed victoriously, as May's face bloomed three shades redder.

"We got you good May!" The boy chucked.

"Yeah, and you got me too," Drew struggled to say, due to the weight pressed against his body. Max just laughed harder, realising his achievement and deciding that he was rather comfortable lying where he was.

"Max," May dragged on, "I'm feeling very squished," She said as she tried to reposition herself; being compacted between two bodies isn't really a very comfortable experience.

Drew then forcefully rolled onto his side, breathing a sigh of relief as the siblings fell off of him. May too looked very relieved, however Max pouted. The two simultaneously yawned and Drew chuckled in amusement.

Around an hour later, both May and Max were sound asleep, heads resting on Drew as he wrapped his arms around them protectively, closing his eyes while a movie played in the background. He hoped to god that the kid could pull off the exams, for not only May's sake but his own as well.

 **Holy crap that was long. 13 fking pages! I feel like I actually achieved something today lol. Oh and hey! Is that plot I see?! Ugh, so many contestshipping feels, I had to try and contain my fangirling while writing this, I mean, I just love this couple so much, they're really fun to write! I hope it didn't seem really sudden, for their resolve I mean. Well, they aren't really a thing yet so I guess it's okay… Ugh, this is my first fanfic so there's gonna be a lot of dodgy stuff. Well, I'm gonna go fulfil my needs with other, actually good contestshipping fanfics. But I hope you enjoyed!**

 **~ X-Ray**


	12. Beginning of the Exams

**May POV**

I rubbed my eyes tiredly, damn this stupid facility, forcing me to stay up until ungodly hours of the morning doing its bidding. I was so sluggish; I'd barely gotten any sleep the night before due to the mission I had to go on. As of late, Dawn was now part of out team which meant we had an extra agent with us to help get the missions done faster.

I was glad that she'd been put into our team; the bluenette seemed to have quickly grown on all of us during these passed few months.

I eventually stopped my spacing out as the corridor I was making my down was becoming less and less deserted. There was a tension in the air as the entrance exams were starting tomorrow.

They seemed to change the subject of the theory work which needed to be completed for it every year so that the older students could not help the younger ones. This however was not the case with the last test. The last one was always the same, it was the most disgusting and scarring of all of the tasks. It was a fight to the death.

They took the theory exams and marked them up, using the answers to pair similar people up with each other. Only one came out of the fight, and that one got to stay.

"Oof," I muttered, rubbing my head as I sat rather dazed on the cold floor below.

"Awfully sorry," I heard a voice mutter. I cracked open one of my closed eyes and let out a gasp. I never forget a face, especially one who I'd captured in one of my previous missions; it was almost like a punishment for ruining their lives.

 _Misty and May had both already made it into the house of their target, from the pictures they had been shown before hand, he was a bald, elderly man with a long white moustache. "Be careful girls, he's awake and sitting in the kitchen which is down the hall and the room to the left." Leaf's voice crackled through the ear-piece both of the young women were wearing. Misty nodded her head as the two swiftly made their way silently towards the kitchen. They both pressed themselves against the wall on either side of the open door. They pulled their scarfs further up their face as May rolled a small metal object inside the room. Thick grey smoke erupted from it and the man inside instantly leapt up from his chair and began to cough violently. The girls sprinted into the room and Misty began to leap for the man but pulled away to narrowly avoid being stabbed in the stomach with a small metal dagger._

"You're the…" I began to stutter; this was new for me, I'd never seen my victims ever again and so I wasn't exactly mentally prepared as I gingerly made my way back onto my feet.

"Ah yes," the man stated, rearranging the dark glasses which previously sat askew on his nose. His long moustache seemed much less kempt than when I first saw him, which may have been due to the poor living conditions he was likely residing in. His right hand was completely bandaged up and I wondered what wound could have been hiding under the material.

"You're the young girl who brought me to this place, are you not?"

"I am," I replied uneasily.

"I see… Well, I do have to thank you to some extent, the research happening in this company is most amazing," He then seemed to glance down at his arm and wince, "My name is Blaine," he added shortly afterward.

"May…" I said, feeling rather stunned as the old man waved with his good hand and seemingly continued on his way. This was very weird; I wondered what the company could be doing to go to the extent of allowing an enemy to assist us.

The rest of the day quickly passed and I had trouble sleeping due to the entrance exams happening the next day. Max wasn't exactly the best fighter compared to his peers and if he was paired up with a much stronger opponent…

I shook my head; I needed to think positively because the thoughts currently going through my head were just getting me down.

* * *

"Listen, if you get into a head lock, you know what to do don't you?!" I frantically spewed out questions as Max rolled his eyes.

"You really need to stop worrying May, I'll be alright!" He exclaimed cheerfully. I could tell he was trying to be brave, for my sake more than his own. I sighed, pulling him in for one last hug. "It'll be fine," he repeated quietly into my shoulder before pulling away and heading into the examination room without looking back.

I stood in the same spot for a while, chewing desperately on my already bitten down nails. If he was to fail this test, he'd be killed right away and wouldn't even be given the chance to fight.

"Has he gone in?" Someone asked from behind me. I was slightly surprised at first as I never heard anyone come into the room I was in. I simply nodded as a taller figure walked over to stand next to me.

I could feel his eyes on me yet I didn't move from the position in which I was in. He put his hand on my bandanna-less head and ruffled up my hair in a comforting way.

"Hey, it'll be okay May, he is a resilient kid," Drew said. I looked over at him then, masking my uncertainty with a bright smile.

"I know he can do it, he's my brother after all!" Drew then returned my smile and we walked out of the make shift waiting room together. "You know," I said once we were nearing the dorms. "I kinda want to be alone for a while," I announced, stopping as we came across mine and Dawn's room. Drew nodded in understanding and waited as I grabbed my key from my pocket and unlocked the door.

I entered with a sigh, closing it again after me and slid down the dark wood. I buried my face in my hands yet I didn't cry; I just sat like this for a good ten minutes. I knew Dawn was out; she'd told me she was spending the Saturday with Kenny and Leona as she'd caught up with her studies for once. I eventually got back up and made my way over to the mini fridge which was stationed over by our small table accompanied by two, wooden chairs.

I pulled out the milk jug and poured myself a class of the white liquid. I needed to do something to keep my mind off of everything that had happened and so I turned on my 'second hand' 3DS and began the 'Fire Emblem' game which had so helpfully been left inside. You eventually learned that if you wanted anything, stealing from your victim's houses was the best way to do it as they provided little entertainment from the small shop bellow.

* * *

 **Dawn POV**

I gently shut the door of Leona's room and continued down the hallway, spotting Drew standing outside out door.

"What's up?" I asked curiously, coming to a halt once I was opposite him as I placed my hands on my hips. I couldn't help but think his worried expression had something to do with May.

"Oh nothing," he said, bringing his hand through his grassy hair. "In all honesty, I was just waiting for you,"

"For me?" I asked in surprise, as I was sure that he'd be there for May.

"Yeah, May said she'd like to be alone, so I was just waiting to warn you," he explained. "Would you like to grab a coffee or something while we wait?" He asked with a smile, "I kind of need to get my mind off things,"

"Ah, sure!" I exclaimed, knowing exactly what he meant as I too was more than worried for Max; he'd almost become like a younger brother to me during the time I'd known him. I gave him a heartening smile and we began to walk towards the lounge room where students and agents alike liked to spend their free time. It was a rather cosy place, despite this being a building full of what I could only describe as evil.

Brown leather sofas sat around tables along with comfy wooden chairs. The bar was full of different foods and drinks, slightly nicer than the ones we were provided at the mess hall. Drew and I sat down at either end of a small table, it was quite nice, I'd never really had a proper conversation with the boy, mainly because he was Paul's room mate and I felt that it'd feel awkward if I visited them in their dorm like I did every now-and-again Ash and Gary.

"It's really nice to see you and May finally getting on a little better," I commented with a smile.

"It is nice," he said genuinely, "It's just so easy to tease her, and her reactions are the best. I have to admit I did miss that,"

I laughed, leaning back comfortably in my chair. They really were quite adorable together, not to mention the fact that they tended to bicker like an old married couple when they were together.

"What would you like? I'll go up and order now," Drew said, standing up and passing me a menu.

"I'll just have a hot chocolate," I answered after a brief examination of the foods and drinks they provided. He nodded and joined the back of the short line, awaiting his turn to order. I silently wondered what May was up to, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't even slightly worried about her; I didn't have any sibling of my own, but I knew how much Max meant to her and considering they'd lost both their parents, if he was to go as well…

I shook my head, refusing to let the negative thoughts consume me; the two had, after all, been practicing for weeks, if not months for this day. There was no way in hell that Max would fail.

I turned to see Drew scooting through the crowd, being careful so that the two drinks he held didn't spill. I smiled thankfully and took mine from him, relieving him of his task.

"Thanks very much!" I exclaimed, blowing on the warm liquid.

"Don't mention it," he said cockily with a flick of his bangs. We talked for over half and hour before I'd decided that it was about time I should go and check on May.

"We should do this again," I commented as we walked out of the room.

"Of course, it was fun!" Drew replied, flashing me a toothy grin. We parted ways as he headed toward his room and me my own.

I slowly opened the door, poking my head in to find that May was no-where to be seen. I frowned as I shut the door, turning my head around the corner with a sigh of relief as I spied the brunette sitting at our table, 3DS in hands.

"Hey," I greeted, coming over to sit in the chair opposite her. May looked up from her game with a bright smile plastered to her face.

"Hi Dawn," she replied, giving me a quick wave before she turned back to her game, seeming to shut out the rest of the world entirely. I sighed and shook my head, slowly making my way over to the sofa to pick up the leather bound book sitting on one of the cussions.

I didn't read it, I just sat on the couch and watched May, deep in thought. I wondered what was going on in her head right now, she was an amazing actor, I had to give it to her. The only problem was she was far too cheery for the situation she was currently in, that was the only flaw in her disguise.

"You know May, if you need to, you can talk to me," I mentioned.

"I'm alright Dawn, no need to worry, right?" She said, turning to me with an almost reassuring smile. I smiled weakly in return; knowing that she was tyring to be strong so that we wouldn't worry.

* * *

 **Leaf POV**

Thoughts of May clouded my mind as I mercilessly beat the heavy punching bag in the empty gym. I was concerned for her, yet I knew that she'd most likely want to be alone right now. I'd wanted to go and see her, but I couldn't bring myself to do so, knowing exactly how she felt.

I eventually stopped, my breathing becoming ragged as I slid down the wall at the back of the room, bringing my knees to my chest and placing my head on my crossed arms. May wasn't the only one on my mind, _he_ was as well, and it really wasn't helping my concentration.

My head suddenly snapped up to the sound of the double doors at the other end of the large room opening. I spied a familiar mass of spiky, brown hair and internally grimaced. I watched him from my place on the floor; he was in a loose fitting, white tee-shirt and navy tracky-bottoms, water bottle in hand. He was obviously coming here to train, thankfully not to flirt with me.

He suddenly stopped as he got closer, his bright blue eyes finally landing on my small figure and widening a fair bit before a small smile graced his lips.

"Hey leaf," he called, slowly making his way over to me. I didn't respond and merely turned away from him, waiting for him to reach me. I couldn't be bothered to get up and leave just yet; I'd do that if things got too weird.

"What are you doing here?" He asked once he was standing over me. I sighed and allowed myself to look up at him.

"Nothing much," I answered simply with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Have you seen May yet?" He questioned, moving to sit down beside me, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

"Ah no, not yet, although I do hope she's okay," I confessed, playing with the hem of my lime green tank absentmindedly.

"I see," he muttered, resting his head against the wall. We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, and in all honesty, it surprised me. He'd actually gone more than two minutes without trying to hit on me for once.

After a while, I decided to get some more training done, and there really was no reason why Gary couldn't help me. I got up and chucked a pair of focus mitts at him which smacked him right in the face, causing me to giggle.

"You really need to work on them reflexes Oak; I thought you were part of an elite team!" I teased good naturedly. He smirked back at me as he stood up, placing the mitts over his hands.

"I was merely trying to make you feel better about yourself, Green. I mean, I it can be rather intimidating being in the same room as me."

I rolled my eyes, trying, and failing to hide a smile which pulled at the corners of my mouth. I began punching at the centre of the thick padded gloves, his hands recoiling at each blow. I allowed my eyes to wander to his face which appeared to be scrunched up in concentration.

I enjoyed our moments like this; it was almost like we were when we were kids and it was really refreshing. He quickly noticed my staring and gave me a small smile, causing me to look back down to where the gloves were.

We stayed like this for a good hour, swapping over every few minutes so that we both benefited from the work out. Eventually, I decided that I'd had enough and I went to take a swig of the water bottle I'd brought along with me.

"So, how are _you_ holding up then?" Gary asked gently, coming up behind me as I froze mid swallow. I slowly put the bottle down and turned to face him, my defences quickly coming back up and the cold demeanour I usually showed him replacing my previous, almost carefree attitude.

"That's none of your business." I said stiffly, quickly shoving the bottle into my blue bag and hauling it over a shoulder, preparing to make my escape. I really didn't have the strength to deal with the topic I knew he was heading towards.

"I know that it'll have been seven years tomorrow," he muttered, causing the grip I had on my backpack to tighten considerably and my eyes to squeeze shut. "You know, if you're not alright I'm here for you,"

I simply pushed passed him and quickly made my way over to the door, not wanting to discuss anything further on the subject. I'd managed to lock away all the pain that day had caused, deep down within my heart, and I really didn't want him setting it free. It was already pounding at its prison walls and I didn't need him making matters worse, it'd just be easier for me it he'd let it go.

* * *

 **May POV**

I paced around the room in which students of all ages were situated, nervously waiting for the hopeful return of their siblings. Dawn and Drew had insisted they come along with me, wanting to see Max if, no, _when_ he came out.

"Calm down May, it's going to be alright," Dawn said gently, coming over to my side and placing a hand on my shoulder as she tucked one of her navy bangs behind an ear. "Come and sit down with us,"

I violently shook my head, shrugging away from her hold and continuing to walk briskly up and down the room. From the corner of my eye I saw Dawn and Drew exchange a worried look and I sighed; I really hated to burden my friends with my fear so I complied to Dawn's previous request and took the seat next to Drew.

Dawn shot me a small smile and sat back down in her own seat on my other side. Some of the people were aimlessly chatting, obviously trying to distract themselves from the heavy matter at hand, whereas other sat quietly, either staring off into space or fiddling with something.

My knee began to bounce up and down, but I couldn't help it. I'd never been one to sit quietly and wait, especially during very serious matters such as this one. I kept my eyes locked on the door which lead to the room Max and the rest of his year group were sitting in. Not only would it be a test of knowledge, but also one of speed. I knew from experience that a certain number of people would have to be eradicated, so only the fastest with over a certain percentage of answers correct would be coming out of here alive. Max had to be one of them, he just had to.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, children began to slowly make their way out of the room, each one looking grim but also rather relieved. I immediately stood up and Dawn, Drew, along with many of the others waiting followed suit.

I stood on my tiptoes, trying to spy my brother's mop of inky blue hair. My hopes slowly began to dwindle as the mass of kids began to subside. There was no sign of him. Dawn was frantically searching the crowd and Drew was no longer within my range of sight, I just stood in place, staring hollowly at the tacky red carpet below me.

I'd lost all hope; he'd somehow lost and now I was alone in this sick excuse of a world I was living in, I felt empty inside, like someone had taken the part of me which was able to feel and replaced it with something cold and hard.

Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and I jumped in surprise. Gingerly, I turned around and spied a familiar shade of blue. My eyes began to fill with tears and I ripped away from the person, turning to squeeze the very life out of them.

"You idiot!" I yelled through the sobs as I clung onto him, scared that if I was to let go he'd disappear before my very eyes. "You should have been the very first to come out of that god damned room!" I said, my voice faltering as I allowed the tears to fall freely. Suddenly that feeling of nothingness had been replaced yet again with that of pure joy and relief.

"I'm sorry," he muttered into my shoulder, clinging onto me just as tightly as I was him. "I was shoved to the back and I… I'm sorry I worried you so,"

I shook my head, just glad that he'd come out of there alive. We eventually parted and were greeted with the supportive smiles of two of my best friends. I'd never admit it anyone, _especially_ him, but I once again saw Drew as one of my oldest and closest friends, and honestly I was glad I'd gotten over my stubbornness and forgiven him.

"Welcome back Max," Dawn said with a grin, bringing him in for a hug while Drew ruffled his hair affectionately.

"We new you could do it buddy," he exclaimed, folding him arms over his chest.

"Hey I know!" I called excitedly, clapping my hands together and gaining the attention of my brother and friends. "We could all go and grab something to eat at the lounge to celebrate!" I was met with good natured eye rolls and a smirk from Drew.

"I reckon if you don't cut down on your calorie intake soon, you'll get fatter than you already are," the greenette said arrogantly, smirking as I glowered at him; my happy demeanour completely changing in an instant. Oh how I wanted to rip that expression right off of his pretty little face.

"Well at least I'm not a skinny little runt like you, grass head." I retorted as my eyes narrowed.

"I'm just glad I'm not air headed like you, _March_ ," He said, my last comment not seeming to phase him at all as his expression never changed. He took a step forward, using his taller stature to his advantage and looking down at me with what could only be described as amusement.

"Now, now," Dawn interrupted just as I was about to make my comeback, pulling me back a few steps as Max sweat dropped. "We can all go down to the lounge to have a drink and celebrate at least, what do you say Max?" She asked, turning to my brother.

"Sounds alright to me," he replied with a smile. The two bluenettes headed out a few paces in front of me. I turned back to see Drew following me, his hands in his pockets. I stuck my tongue out at him in a huff and hurried over to Dawn's side as he chucked and caught up with my brother.

 **So, tell me what you thought of this chapter, I've decided I really need to elaborate more on the relationships and interactions people have with each other, so I'm figuring out how to have mini snippets of 'filler' kinda stuff here and there, and I've started the next chapter and it seems alright.**

 **And this is just a heads up for the future guys, however I don't really know how soon this may affect everything. Basically I'll be doing this course for (most likely) the rest of my school career which will all in all, be making me work much harder than the regular curriculum. Long story short, I'll be given work which will better prepare me for uni yada yada yada. Now, due to the fact that (much to my dismay) I only have a week left of the holidays, I'm not quite sure if I'll be able to update as often. I'm also going away with my family for this week as well, however I'll try and get some writing done during this time anyways.**

 **I seriously hope that I'll still be able to update often, I'm just not entirely sure of the workload I'll be given then. I'm so very sorry in advance if this disrupts the fortnight posting ritual I seem to have acquired, but I will try my very best to post on time anyway as I have grown rather fond of this story, not to mention once this is finished, I have others planned for the future!**

 **As always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and sorry for the rather long author's note, I just wanted to warn you all in advance my dear readers!**

 **~X-Ray**


	13. End of the Exams

**Misty POV**

"May is completely understandable… but Leaf?" I said with a frown to my bluenette friend as we sat alone together in the mess hall for breakfast the day after Max's fist exams.

"I know, it doesn't really make sense," Dawn sighed, swirling her spoon absentmindedly in her cereal bowl. "And you're saying she just completely locked herself in her room and refused to come out today?" She asked, her face morphing into that of confusion.

I nodded my head in conformation, lifting my own spoon to my mouth. Leaf had never really been what one would call an 'open book', but we couldn't help but worry for her well being; she'd almost completely closed herself off from us over the past few days and for all we knew, nothing had really happened to cause this development.

I'd previously explained to Dawn that I'd met her at around the age of ten through Ash and Gary, we'd then met May a year later because of Drew. She'd never told me much about her past, even after knowing her for six years, so anytime before we met I really knew nothing about.

"Maybe Gary and Ash would know something," Dawn suggested, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Possibly," I replied, drumming the silver spoon on the edge of my bowl. "Although currently May comes first, Max has his last entrance exam today, we'll have to be there for her just in case…"

I saw Dawn visibly wince and she weakly nodded her head. This was thankfully the last time any of us would have to go through this as no-one else had any younger siblings; Gary and I both had older ones instead. _Although sometimes I wish I didn't_. I thought to myself bitterly.

We eventually finished our meal and walked over to place our trays among the piles which had formed on the trolleys at the back of the large room.

"I'll head over to my room, grab my bag and meet you there," Dawn said as we headed through the hallway that lead to the different dorm rooms. I nodded and we split ways for the moment. The bluenette and I were both headed over to Gary and Ash's room to catch up on an English assignment all of us had yet to complete, curtesy of Ash who had insisted we all help each other with it, _Typical Ash_ , I thought, my eyes rolling automatically.

I soon stopped outside mine and Leaf's dorm room where I unlocked the door, hoping that maybe Leaf had at least left her room to grab a snack from the mini fridge while I was out.

"Hey Leaf!" I called, walking around the corner and softly knocking on her bedroom door. We were both lucky in the sense that unlike May and Dawn, we had our own rooms, the only down fall was, I couldn't really check on her as we had locks and she'd obviously used hers.

"What is it?" I eventually head Leaf's muffled reply through the door.

"Have you eaten yet? It's gone passed eleven," I said, leaning my back against the door in exasperation. I'd really hoped she'd at least let me into the prison of a room she'd locked herself in over the passed few days, only coming out for school, to train or the occasional snack.

"I'm not really hungry thanks Mist, you don't need to worry about me," she answered, causing me to let out a long sigh. We'd always been pretty private people, both knowing where the others boundaries were and respecting that thoroughly. Despite not completely knowing everything about her, she was still one of my closest and oldest friends.

For these reasons, I didn't press the matter further, whether she wanted to tell me what was wrong or not was her decision to make, not mine. I then hurriedly entered my own bedroom, taking in the familiar cream walls and light wooden flooring. I spied my blue backpack leaning against my black, metal framed bed on my plush grey carpet.

I quickly scanned to see if all the materials I needed were there and then let myself out of our dorm, heading up a flight of stairs and stopping outside room _53_. I roughly banged on the wooden door and was soon met by the beaming face of the raven haired teen who lived there.

"Heya Mist!" He greeted, stepping aside to let me enter their apartment which almost mirrored my own. I noticed Dawn's pink, fluffy backpack lying against the wall by the door and next to her baby blue boots she'd purchased while we were out the other week.

"I hope you guys haven't started without me," I said with a small chuckle as I walked towards their lounge where a game of Mario kart 8 had been paused on the screen of their overly large TV. How they'd managed to take the thing seriously beat me; they'd discarded the smaller flat screen each room provided for the massive one that they'd somehow managed to take down from someone's wall and shove into their van, then carry all the way up to their room. They were persistent I'd give them that.

I smiled at the memory of when the two dorks had proudly shown me what they'd obtained. They'd sprinted over to our room and hammered on the door at around two in the morning. Unfortunately for them, I don't take lightly to those who wake me up earlier than ten in the morning at a weekend, let alone two. Despite the fact that we'd had an admittedly fun super smash bros showdown to which I'd reined superior, they hadn't gotten out of the situation without a black eye each, much to the entertainment of my roommate.

"Well, Gary's currently gone off in a sulk because Dawn beat him at rainbow road," Ash commented, causing me to snort.

"The only track he was best at and he was beaten by a _girl_ ," I chuckled as Ash and I walked towards the lounge room. Dawn was sitting at their table, a look of triumph spread across her face as she watched us come closer.

"I hear you beat 'the king of the rainbow'," I laughed while Dawn smirked.

"But of course! I _was_ named the Queen of the Kart back when I was away," She replied cockily. I sent her a challenging look to which she returned.

"We'll see about that as I am practically a goddess! And compared to me you are all but simple peasants," I retorted, causing the three of us to burst into fits of laughter.

After around an hour, the two guys had dropped out and the races were only between me and the bluenette. The other two had become tired of losing to the both of us, however we could not seem to decipher a winner as I would win some, and then Dawn would win more.

"Let's pact a truce for now," Dawn eventually said, holding out her hand to me. I smirked and shook it firmly.

"Until the next time," I agreed.

"Well," Gary then piped up, "maybe we should all get on with our assignment now,"

Both Dawn and Ash groaned while I nodded in agreement.

"Good idea, that was what we'd come here for in the first place, wasn't it," I commented, giving both raven and sapphire haired teens a pointed look. They shrank down at my gaze and unwillingly nodded.

Over an hour later, we'd all made significant progress on the assignment, mostly due to both me and Gary. Dawn eventually closed her book and stood up, dusting down the pink dress she'd put on.

"Well, I'm gonna have to go, I have to train with _Paul,_ " She said grumpily, her face morphing into a look of disdain. Gary chuckled and stood with her, collecting his own books and stationary.

"I'm going to go as well, boredom is not something that I enjoy having," he sighed, walking over to their door and slipping on his grey sneakers before exiting the room. Dawn followed soon after once she'd shouldered her pink fluffy bag and so Ash and I were left alone in his room.

"You wanna go somewhere?" He asked after we'd packed up all of our school things.

"Sure," I replied with a small smile, waiting for the raven haired boy by the door. We walked down the corridor in a comfortable silence, having nothing really to talk about. My thoughts eventually settle on my roommate, cooped up in her room and all alone. I wanted to help her but I had no idea what was wrong, she was seriously worrying me.

We eventually stopped outside of my dorm as I needed to drop off my bag, I opened the door and we both stepped into a silent and seemingly empty apartment. Ash merely sat down on our black leather sofa as I went to place my bag in my room. I knocked on my roommates door to see if she'd let me in however again, I got no answer.

I sighed and dragged my hands through my short, orange hair in exasperation.

"You eaten yet Leaf?" I called instead, receiving a questioning look from the boy on the couch.

"Uh, yeah. Don't worry about me, seriously," she replied, causing me to roll my eyes, by this time I was seriously considering kicking down her door. I quickly dragged Ash away from my room, scared that if I was there much longer, I really would have.

"What's going on Mist?" The boy said, gripping onto my arm and preventing me from going any further. I merely shook my head and continued in the direction I was headed; I really needed to get outside and cool down as I was scared that if I opened my mouth then, there'd just be a string of insults directed at my friend just to channel out all of my frustration.

I dragged the poor boy through some exit doors and only stopped once we were shelter from the blazing summer sun under a leafy tree.

"Are you gonna tell me now?" He asked, his big, liquid chocolate eyes looking down at me with worry. I sighed, my back slumping against the thick trunk of the tree tiredly.

"I honestly don't know; Leaf's been stuck in her bedroom for ages, and she won't talk to us about anything.

"I see…" Ash muttered, gripping his chin with his thumb and forefinger in thought. The sight was quite hilarious, and if I hadn't been feeling the mixture of anger, confusion and worry, I'd have probably laughed and begun to tease him about it.

"I suppose…" He began to mutter more to himself than me, "it is that time of the year again… and with May's situation…" He suddenly stopped, his eyes widening as he covered his mouth with both hands. I looked on at him with curiosity; he obviously knew something I didn't.

"What do you mean, 'time of the year again,'?" I questioned, my eyes narrowing as my hands made their way to my hips.

"I… erm, it's really nothing." The boy stammered, taking two steps back as I threateningly advanced on him.

"Tell me," I growled through gritted teeth, cracking my knuckles in an intimidating fashion; if I had to, I'd not hesitate to beat it out of him.

"M-Misty please!" He begged with wide eyes, cowering as I raged. I was currently extremely frustrated with him; I needed him to tell me what was going on so that I'd be able to help my friend. I finally brought my fist up and punched Ash across the face. He winced in pain and flinched from the blow.

"I'm sorry Misty, but I can't tell you. I'm really in no place to do so, it's up to leaf to explain everything when she's ready," He sighed out eventually, bracing himself for another beating. I grunted in frustration, realising that whatever information he was withholding from me was very personal and that he was right. Whatever it was, it was only fair that Leaf tell me herself, and when she was ready.

I glared down at the floor, not wanting to accept defeat. In a huff, I turned to face the tree that we were currently standing under and forcefully sent my fist thundering towards its trunk, trying to release all of my pent up anger. The impact stung and my knuckles had begun to turn red, but I didn't stop. I merely continued to pummel the poor tree until Ash gently grabbed my shoulders and lead me away.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, taking my hands in his. I could feel my face heat up considerably, and I didn't want to worry him further so I shook my head.

"I just really want to help, I hate seeing her mope around the place like this," I explained with a sigh. Ash shot me a sympathetic look and brought his hand up to ruffle my hair affectionately.

"I know, I hate seeing my friends looking sad," he said with a frown. "But, sometimes things need to sort themselves out. I can assure you that she'll get through this cause' she has done lots and lots of times before!" He then shot me a toothy grin and I couldn't help but return it.

"Hey Ash!" A melodic voice called from a little way away from us. I internally grimaced as Ash turned around and smiled at the oncoming Barbie doll that was Serena.

"Hiya Serena!" He returned with a small wave. Her high pitched giggles seemed to echo all around my skull, causing me to groan in annoyance. I could never seem to spend five minutes alone with Ash from the safety of either of our rooms without _her_ sticking her powdered nose into our business. She arrived to the place we were at in merely a few seconds and latched herself to my best friend's arm.

"Ashy, you wanna go and grab a drink with me or something?" She asked, batting her thick eyelashes up at him as she did so. The sight made me seethe; I was hanging out with him at the moment, couldn't she see that?!

"Uh, actually I'm hanging out with Misty at the moment," he explained awkwardly, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. Serena pouted in response and ducked her head around to send me a glare which I suppose was supposed to be intimidating. I merely smirked back in triumph, secretly overjoyed that Ash had chosen me over her.

"However, you join us if you want," he added quickly afterwards. This time it was Serena's turn to smirk in my direction while I glared. It wasn't fair, why couldn't he see how irritatingly annoying this girl was?! He was so ignorant and it irritated me to no end sometimes, although an Ash who wasn't ignorant wasn't Ash Ketchum.

"So should we go do something?" Ash asked, looking at both of us in turn. I merely shrugged, directing my death bringing glare to the ground below while Serena giggled and bobbed her head up and down enthusiastically.

The two walked on ahead towards the forest at the edge of the facility, Serena clinging to Ash like a leach while I trailed behind, my hands in my pockets as I mumbled insults under my breath. I couldn't help but notice the unbelievable short skirt and clingy singlet Serena was wearing and compare them to my red, over sized tee and jeans. It wasn't fair, what gave her the right to take _my_ Ash away from me?!

I stopped mid step, my eyes widening and my face feeling like it'd catch fire at any moment. What the hell was I thinking?! Ash wasn't mine, why was I feeling so protective and jealous right now? He was my best friend, I didn't think about him in any other way! Did I?

The pair seemed to have noticed my lack of movement and Ash turned to look at me with his adorably big, questioning eyes. _Wait what?!_

"You alright Mist?" He asked with a slight tilt of his head. I didn't know how to reply, my throat felt like all the moisture had just suddenly evaporated and I was left gasping like a fish out of water. _Am I okay?_ I asked myself, unsure of what I was doing or what I was feeling.

Eventually I managed a reassuring smile as I weakly nodded my head. He continued to look at me with concern for a few more seconds before Serena began to drag him off again. A new found fury began to boil up inside me and I could feel my face getting hot for different reasons. My hands clenched at my sides and my teeth grit together. I wanted to snap her pathetic little arms so she couldn't hold him ever again, only I should've been able to cling to him like that!

We eventually got to a small clearing in the midst of the tall pine trees that created the small forest we were walking through. The two in front of me arrived around five seconds before and in that time, Ash's poor arm had been free from the bear trap that was Serena and he'd turned round to flash me a toothy grin, only to have it fall when he viewed my thunderous mood and morph into that of a terrified puppy.

I began to advance on the poor boy, Serena looking on in shock as Ash backed up to try and get away from me, his face a mixture of terror and confusion. I eventually stopped and so did he, I then lowered my head and glared towards the ground. I could feel tears prickling the edges of my eyes and I had absolutely no idea why.

I then rushed forward, wrapping my arms around his torso and burying my face into his chest. At this point in time, I didn't care if Serena was watching or if Ash was silently panicking as he stiffened up at my touch, I just needed him for some unbeknownst reason. After a few seconds, I felt his chest heave as he released a breath I didn't know he was even holding and gently wrapped his arms around my back, placing his chin comfortably atop my head.

It was then and there that I realised that I loved Ash Ketchum and I always had. I wanted to be the only one for him; I didn't want Serena in the picture at all. The problem was, he was my best friend and I couldn't ever tell him how I felt, so I had to keep my feelings locked away, only now, I allowed myself that little bit of freedom.

* * *

 **Normal POV**

Dawn was headed down the corridor back to her room, glaring at an unbelievably sore area on her leg which she was certain was going to bruise.

"Stupid plumb head…" She muttered dangerously to herself, "Next time I see him I swear I'll break his stupid neck," she growled.

Her mood quickly shifted however once she'd opened the door and seen May and Max rolling around on their white, tiled flooring.

"What are you doing?" She asked in amusement, not feeling entirely surprised to have come home to something like this.

"We're rolling!" May replied, stopping mid roll and lying on her back, looking up at the bemused expression on her roommate's face.

"Do I wanna know why?" Dawn asked, setting down her pink, fluffy bag and walking over to sit on the floor next to her friend.

"Because it's fun!" Max piped up as he crawled over to sit with his sister and friend.

"You honestly don't strike me for someone who'd find this sort of thing fun, Max," Dawn pointed out with a raised eyebrow. He merely shrugged in return. At that moment, a loud, ear piercing siren sounded and Dawn clamped her hands to her ears. Max and May's expressions turned grim and Dawn instantly knew what it meant; it was time.

* * *

The hair on the back of Dawn's neck instantly shot up once she'd stepped into the building created for this sick exam, and she hastily closed the gap between herself and Paul who was walking ahead. She'd fearfully grabbed the hem of his grey and black hoodie and squeezed her eyes shut, allowing him to guide her to where they were going to sit.

The entire gang sat high up in the stands of the arena, Max included. The atmosphere in the room of hell was tense and not one person could be seen smiling as people nervously murmured to one another. The building smelled disgustingly of blood, no matter how much the higher up had cleaned it and it made Dawn feel sick.

She watched in horror as pairs of 11-12 year olds were called out to face each other in the arena, each having been given knives. May had squeezed her eyes shut as she was sitting between her brother and Dawn. She was holding onto his hand as if her life depended on it, causing it to go white from the grip. Drew was watching her with concern, he wanted to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, although he himself wasn't certain it would be.

Leaf and Misty were sitting together, and while Misty looked on at the scene almost blankly like Paul, Leaf was muttering endlessly to herself, looking down into her lap while her hands restlessly shook. Being here caused the painful memories she'd had locked away to come gushing out, almost suffocating her and she'd even been considering to not show up at all, although she'd decided that she had to be there for May no matter what.

Ash was gazing up at the ceiling, trying to get his mind off of the current events by replaying what had happened out in the forest before the siren called. Misty was acting weird and he didn't know why; she'd just hugged him for no reason, and he had to admit that he'd highly enjoyed it. Gary however was looking across at Leaf, knowing exactly what was going on. By the looks of things, she wasn't doing too well and he'd decided that if need be, he'd get her out of the building no matter what.

"Why do they have to do this?" Dawn asked with disgust in a hushed tone to Paul who was sitting stoically beside her with his arms crossed.

"Because they do," Paul replied harshly, causing a hurt look to spread across Dawn's face. It wouldn't normally get to her, but he didn't have to be mean in a situation such as this. She sighed and looked down at her shoes, wanting everything to be over quickly.

An hour passed and Dawn was beginning to feel physically sick. She couldn't imagine the mental trauma that those children had to go through; she'd find it excruciatingly painful if she had to fight any of her class mates to the death. Her hands began to tremble and she quickly gripped both of her arms, trying to stop them.

"How much longer?" She asked Paul weakly, causing him to turn and look at her in concern. Her face had become pale and she was shaking all over.

"Not long," he assured her, allowing her to lean against him and cling onto his hoodie as she squeezed her eyes shut. In any normal circumstance, he would have shaken her off; however this was an especially sick game that they'd been forced to watch and he understood full how she felt. He just had to resist the strange urge he had to gently stoke her azure locks comfortingly.

As soon as the body from the previous match had been cleared away, Max Maple's name echoed around the room, causing the group to freeze and May's heart to violently pound in her chest. She griped her brother's hand tighter, refusing to let go until he flashed a reassuring yet terrified smile and made his way down to the arena where the guards were waiting for him and his classmate.

The student he was against was a boy named Tommy; they were almost equal in height although he was slightly taller. He had light brown hair and just like everyone else, a sombre attitude. The knife Max was given was small and light, it had a black hilt with the companies logo engraved on the end.

Max's palms became sweaty and his breathing jagged. He'd known his opponent since they were very young; they'd also been pretty good friends. _Why couldn't it have been someone I didn't know?!_ He thought, tears starting to prickle the side of his eyes.

The signal was made for the two to start and Tommy didn't skip a beat. He instantly lunged for Max, twin blade only missing by a millimetre as Max leaped out of the way. He realised that Tommy was very serious, and if he wanted any chance at winning he'd have to be just as brutal. The ground below was bloody for the previous battles and as Max moved, the crimson liquid splashed up around his shoes.

The inky haired boy leaped towards his attacker, swiping down with the knife and catching the boy's cheek. Blood began to trickle out of the wound yet it was harshly wiped away soon after. The boys received blow after blow, sometimes a small slash from the knife and other times a kick or a punch to the body.

Max wiped the sweat and blood from around his face and advanced once again on his fellow classmate. The boy was at the opposite side of the ring, wearily eying Max as he kept his hand compressed against a deep stab wound which adorned his left arm. The bluenette knew that his chance was now; if he was going to finish off Tommy then it'd have to be done while he was partly lame due to his left arm.

With all his remaining strength, he ran full speed at his opponent, knife held at the ready with his eyes narrowed. He had to get this; he just had to for May!

Max swung the knife, however he didn't see where his opponents was located. Blood was splattered everywhere, adding to the evidence of the previous deaths of the students. No-one up in the stands dared look.

 **Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm so so so sorry for leaving it this long, I just haven't had time to write! I've been getting more work that I originally thought which kinda sucks and it's only gonna get worse. In the times I could have been writing I've mainly been doing other stuff so forgive me for that!**

 **I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out exactly, but hopefully it'll be soon. I hate to leave you guys hanging, especially on this cliff hanger.**

 **In another four weeks or so I have my Easter holidays so hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done then, that is if I'm not given too much work to do *sigh***

 **Well, I thank everyone who's still reading even though it's been ages, it means a lot!**

 **~ X-Ray**


End file.
